Department for Transport

First Transpennine Express

Jonathan Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects TransPennine Express to sign a franchise extension; and what the duration of that extension will be.

Claire Perry: A Direct Award is currently being negotiated with Transpennine Express to maintain services whilst the competition to award the franchise from February 2016 is running. In accordance with the published franchising programme schedule the Direct Award is expected to last from the end of the current franchise in April 2015 until February 2016. We intend to conclude negotiations for the Direct Award well ahead of the end of the current contract in April 2015.

Parking: Pedestrian Areas

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the provisions in the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 on pavement parking.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Local authorities have the necessary powers to permit pavement parking or to restrict it with enforceable measures. It is for those authorities to assess pavement parking in their respective areas. My Department’s guidance to local authorities makes clear that, during the appraisal of their parking policies, an authority should consider whether pavement parking is problematic in any part of its area. If it is, and is not covered by an existing Traffic Regulation Order, the authority should consider amending the existing Order or making a new one.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Planning Obligations

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Written Statement of 28 November 2014, Official Report, column 54WS, on small-scale developers, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of obligations under the amended Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 on the availability of affordable housing.

Brandon Lewis: Holding answer received on 05 February 2015



The Department for Communities and Local Government carried out a public consultation in March 2014 to invite views and local evidence on proposed changes to to national policy on section 106 affordable housing and tariff contributions. All evidence submitted was carefully considered before the Government announced the introduction of new national policy on 28 November 2014.The introduction of the thresholds policy will help unblock small sites stalled due to the imposition of unrealistic charges and provide a boost to small scale builders. Stalled, unviable sites deliver no housing, affordable or otherwise and create no jobs.

Land

Mrs Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he will take to monitor the loss to development of land in England and Wales during the UN International Year of Soils in 2015.

Brandon Lewis: The Department for Communities and Local Government has previously published national statistics on Land Use Change. These statistics report the amount of undeveloped land, including agricultural land, changing to a developed use changing to a developed use.In 2013, the Department let a tender to secure these statistics and a 30 per cent reduction in costs using an innovative new methodology. The first publication of these new statistics will cover the year 2013-14 and has been provisionally announced for June/July 2015. Subsequent years publications will be preannounced for publication in due course.

Housing: Tyne and Wear

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of population projections that have been used in developing the Newcastle/Gateshead One Core Housing Strategy; if he will suspend work on this strategy until revised versions of those projections are available; and if he will make a statement.

Brandon Lewis: We now have a locally-led planning system. The Government does not impose housing requirements on Councils but expects them to assess their housing needs, using appropriate evidence, and plan to meet these needs as far as reasonably possible. Newcastle and Gateshead Joint Core Strategy is currently at examination. It is the role of the independent Inspector to assess the Plan’s evidence base. The Inspector will issue his report in due course.

Housing: Construction

Dame Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will place in the Library the minutes or meetings he and Ministers in his Department held with private developers in 2014 and the names of the people attending those meetings.

Brandon Lewis: Holding answer received on 10 February 2015



Details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations are published on-line as part of our transparency agenda. They are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-communities-and-local-government&publication_type=transparency-dataIn line with established practice, names of all attendees and meeting minutes are not normally published.

Empty Property

Dame Tessa Jowell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if he will place in the Library the minutes and lists of attendees of meetings he and Ministers in his Department held with external organisations on the introduction of a vacant building credit in 2014.

Brandon Lewis: Holding answer received on 10 February 2015



Details of Ministers’ meetings with external organisations are published on-line as part of our transparency agenda. They are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-communities-and-local-government&publication_type=transparency-dataIn line with established practice, names of all attendees and meeting minutes are not normally published.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Palestinians

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Palestinian leadership about human rights violations and measures to tackle extremism in the Gaza Strip.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We remain deeply concerned by reports of extremism and possible human rights violations in the Gaza Strip. We discuss these issues regularly with Palestinian political leaders and civil society representatives. Since the formation of the interim technocratic government, we have supported Prime Minister Hamdallah’s efforts to return the Palestinian Authority (PA) to effective control of the Gaza Strip, which would allow the PA to take action to address such reports.

Middle East

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of Hamas's ability to fire long-range ballistic missiles.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: During the recent Gaza conflict Hamas fired rockets that regularly reached Tel Aviv and beyond. Some towns were hit that were in excess of 130km from Gaza. We believe that Hamas’ military wing retains the capability to fire long range rockets into Israel, despite a significantly depleted stockpile of weaponry.

Middle East

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of Hamas's ability to develop and produce rockets.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We assess that Hamas’ military wing maintains the expertise to produce crude weaponry, including rockets, within Gaza. However, their ability to source raw materials has been affected by Operation Protective Edge, and effective Egyptian operations to destroy tunnels between Gaza and Egypt.

Middle East

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of Hamas's ability to smuggle explosive material into the Gaza Strip.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We believe that due to the Egyptian authorities' destruction of the smuggling tunnels, the ability of Hamas’ military wing to smuggle explosive material into Gaza has been dramatically reduced.

Middle East

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received of Hamas's use of residential buildings to manufacture and store its rockets.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We have received some reports of Hamas’ military wing using residential buildings to manufacture and store rockets. If true, this would be a contravention of international humanitarian law. The UN also reported that Gazan militants used disused UN buildings to store weaponry during the Gaza conflict. Following the conflict, the UN Secretary-General has asked for a report on the storage of Hamas weapons in UN buildings.

Middle East

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent reports he has received on sources of funding for the terrorist activities of ISIL, Hezbollah and Hamas.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Our analysis of the information available on ISIL’s funding flows suggests that a substantial share of ISIL’s revenue is derived from the sale of oil and commodities, taxation and extortion. Other sources have included foreign donors, kidnap ransom payments, and money and antiquities looted in Iraq and Syria.We are working with our partners in the international community to deny ISIL access to funds, and we played a key role in the adoption of UNSCR 2170 (15 August 2014), which calls on all states to ensure that no funds, financial assets or economic resources are made available, directly or indirectly, to ISIL or to terrorists more generally.Hizballah and Hamas both receive funding and support from a range of sources, including from countries in the region. The UK and EU have introduced legislation to prevent financing terrorism, which includes Hamas and the military arm of Hizballah. An EU asset freeze is also in place against Hamas.

Middle East

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the role of Hamas's political wing as a source for the funding of Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We assess that funding for Hamas’ military wing comes from a range of sources in the region and internationally, not all of which are clear. We work closely across the Government and the international community to deny Hamas Izz al-Din al-Qassem Brigades access to funds. An EU asset freeze is in place against Hamas in its entirety which prevents funds being made available to the organisation from within EU Member States. The UK has also proscribed Hamas Izz al-Din al-Qassem Brigades. Amongst other penalties, it is a criminal offence for a person to invite support for a proscribed organisation.

Middle East

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received of efforts by Hamas to rebuild tunnels.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We hold regular discussions with Palestinian, Israeli and international contacts on the issue of Hamas’ capability. We have assessed that Hamas are seeking to rebuild infrastructure, including the tunnel network, in Gaza.

Middle East

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the role played by Iran in Hamas' rearmament.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We remain deeply concerned by reports of Hamas' attempts to rearm. Any supply of arms to Hamas by Iran would contravene the embargo on Iranian arms exports established by UN Security Council Resolution 1747 and undermine prospects for peace and stability in the Middle East.

Middle East

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of Hamas' role in and steps taken to maintain the ceasefire announced in August 2014.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We assess that Hamas played a significant role in the ceasefire agreement announced in August 2014. Although there has so far been no significant resumption of hostilities, we continue to have serious concerns over the implementation of the ceasefire agreement by both Palestinian factions and Israel. It is important that Hamas’ military wing and other militant factions cease all military activity. We reiterate the need for the fundamental causes of conflict to be addressed, including lifting of the restrictions on the Gaza Strip, in order to prevent a return to conflict.

Palestinians

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the UN Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism on controlling and monitoring the supply, distribution and use of building materials in the Gaza Strip.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The UK is working closely with international partners to support the work of the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM). The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has not carried out a formal assessment of the effectiveness of the GRM, which only began functioning in November 2014. However, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process informed our Consul General in Jerusalem on 30 January that the GRM is working, and the UK is continuing to encourage the full implementation of the mechanism.

Bahrain

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the government of Bahrain on recent decisions to deprive people in that country of their nationality without due process; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The British Ambassador to Bahrain has raised the revocation of citizenship of 72 Bahraini nationals at Ministerial level with the Government of Bahrain on 4 February. All of the individuals affected have the right to appeal. The British Embassy in Bahrain will continue to follow these cases closely.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Higher Education: Part-time Education

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many people applied for part-time university courses in each year since May 2010.

Greg Clark: Holding answer received on 27 January 2015



The information is not held centrally.

Radioactive Waste

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness and value for money of the Natural Environment Research Council's Decommissioning, Immobilisation and Management of Nuclear Wastes for Disposal Waste programme.

Greg Clark: The research through the Decommissioning, Immobilisation and Management of Nuclear Wastes for Disposal Waste (DIAMOND) programme was funded through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and was completed in March 2013.   The research consortium has subsequently been awarded a further research grant to address the broad area of nuclear waste and decommissioning. This new grant brings together key industry partners and leading academic researchers from 11 of the UKs top research intensive universities and builds upon and consolidates the work completed through the DIAMOND programme. As part of the process to award this new grant, the effectiveness and value-for-money of the DIAMOND programme would have been assessed by experts in the field based on the evidence provided by the applicants.   The specific research outputs from the DIAMOND programme are publicly available on the Research Council Gateway to Research portal – http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk/project/E898DD38-1C74-41ED-B298-F9BF53FA6376.

Overseas Students

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many international students applied to study in UK universities in each of the last five years.

Greg Clark: Holding answer received on 09 February 2015



Final figures for the years up to 2014 are shown in the table. The latest information for the 2015 application cycle shows that, as at January 15th, applicants via UCAS from EU and non-EU countries were up by 7% and 3% respectively, compared to the same point last year. The UCAS deadline for the receipt of applications from non-EU applicants is the end of June; normally, only around two thirds of non-EU applicants apply by mid-January.   These figures only cover applicants to full-time undergraduate courses. Information on applicants to part-time undergraduate courses, and all postgraduate courses, is not held centrally. Only just over half of all non-EU overseas entrants to full-time courses apply via UCAS, the rest apply directly to institutions.   Applicants via UCAS from EU and non-EU countries to full-time undergraduate courses at UK institutions Final end of cycle figures  Year of entry 20102011201220132014Domicile: EU (excluding UK)47,32049,27543,15044,83546,830Non-EU64,73063,02067,15070,55574,560

Higher Education: Bradford

Mr David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many students have gone to university from Bradford in each year between 2001 and 2014.

Greg Clark: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for International Development

Palestinians

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what recent discussions she has had with her Palestinian counterpart on ensuring that the material used for the reconstruction of Gaza is not used by terrorists.

Mr Desmond Swayne: DFID is providing £0.5 million to the Materials Monitoring Unit (MMU) which oversees and monitors the import, storage, supply and use of construction materials into Gaza under the auspices of the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism (GRM). This Mechanism is designed to ensure reconstruction material reaches those who need it most. We continue to engage with the Palestinian Authority, the UN and the Government of Israel to ensure the mechanism continues to work as intended.

Palestinians

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the effect of political and other divisions within the Palestinian unity government on international efforts to rebuild Gaza.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The reconstruction of Gaza will require a durable ceasefire agreement that includes, amongst other things, the restoration of Palestinian Authority control. We welcomed the leadership shown by the Palestinian Authority at the Gaza Reconstruction Conference in Cairo, and their agreement to the Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism which is facilitating the import of construction materials into Gaza. The situation is extremely difficult, but we continue to support Prime Minister Hamdallah in his efforts to take the steps necessary to restore Palestinian Authority control.

British Indian Ocean Territory

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what contingency plans her Department is making regarding the potential resettlement of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) following the Government's feasibility study for the resettlement of BIOT.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The KPMG independent Feasibility Study on resettlement of BIOT has concluded and will be published by the Government shortly. A Policy Review, led by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, will now be undertaken, carefully considering the study’s factual findings and all available options regarding the future of the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Department for Education

Public Expenditure

Chris Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 128 of her Department's Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14, HC 745, what the reasons are for the £466.7 million expenditure listed under other expenditure.

Mr Nick Gibb: Academies provide the Department with an annual return which reports their expenditure in various categories, such as staff salaries, utilities or catering. Some expenditure is incurred that is difficult to categorise, and is therefore collated as ‘other expenditure’. Examples include some insurance costs, and PFI charges. For the 2013-14 Department for Education Group Annual Report and Accounts, this ‘other expenditure’ was £466.7 million. We are working to improve our sector reporting to reduce this figure and improve transparency. It should be noted that this year we reduced our reliance on the ‘other expenditure’ classification from £783.2m in 12-13 to £466.7m in 13-14, despite the significant increase in the number of academies.

Educational Psychology

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many registered educational psychologists are (a) employed by her Department and (b) working in schools in each of the last five years.

Mr Edward Timpson: The Department for Education does not employ any educational psychologists or keep a record of the number working in schools. Educational psychologists are traditionally employed by local authority educational psychology services. In 2013 the Department invested an additional £6.194 million, to increase the number of training places by 10% (from 120 to 132 intakes in 2014 and 2015). Between 2009- 2013 we commissioned an annual survey of these services[1]. The workforce survey noted a growing trend for educational psychology services to be directly commissioned by schools. The below table shows the number of registered educational psychologists working in local authority educational psychology services responding to the surveys. Table 1. Educational psychologists working in local authority services 2009-2013Year20092010201120122013Number of local authorities responses125101103126112Number of Educational Psychologists employed.1,8751,6291,6381,9551,799  [1] The first three surveys were unpublished. The 2012 and 2013 were published by the Children’s Workforce Development Council (2013) Educational Psychology Workforce Survey 2012 and Department for Education (2014) Educational Psychology Workforce Survey 2013. Research Report https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/educational-psychology-workforce-survey-results-2013

Teachers: Training

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many hours of physical education training trainee teachers received in each of the last 10 years.

Mr David Laws: The information requested is not held centrally.

Educational Visits

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils in England attended a residential outdoors education experience in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Nick Gibb: The Department for Education does not collect information on the number of pupils’ attending residential outdoors education experiences.

Educational Visits

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of pupils in England who have participated in outdoor school trips in each year since 2005.

Mr Nick Gibb: The Department for Education does not collect information on the number of pupils’ participating in outdoor school trips.

Special Educational Needs

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2015 to Question 220889, what mechanism is in place to alert Ministers when local authorities do not issue a final statement of special educational needs within the statutory 26 week time limit.

Mr Edward Timpson: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 11 February 2015.The correct answer should have been:

There is no mechanism in place to alert Ministers routinely to individual cases when a local authority does not issue a final statement of special educational needs for a child within the statutory 26 week timescale.A complaint can be made to the Secretary of State for Education under section 497 of the Education Act 1996 if it is believed that a local authority has failed to carry out a statutory duty. If, following investigation, the Secretary of State is satisfied that the local authority has failed to carry out their duty, she may make an order giving directions to enforce the duty as appear to her to be expedient.Data collected annually from all local authorities on the numbers of final statements issued for children with special educational needs within the statutory timescale of 26 weeks and published each year gives a national picture of local authority performance in this area.nal picture of local authority performance in this area.

Mr Edward Timpson: There is no mechanism in place to alert Ministers routinely to individual cases when a local authority does not issue a final statement of special educational needs for a child within the statutory 26 week timescale.A complaint can be made to the Secretary of State for Education under section 497 of the Education Act 1996 if it is believed that a local authority has failed to carry out a statutory duty. If, following investigation, the Secretary of State is satisfied that the local authority has failed to carry out their duty, she may make an order giving directions to enforce the duty as appear to her to be expedient.Data collected annually from all local authorities on the numbers of final statements issued for children with special educational needs within the statutory timescale of 26 weeks and published each year gives a national picture of local authority performance in this area.nal picture of local authority performance in this area.

GCE A-level: Dudley

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of A-level students at schools and colleges in Dudley North constituency that were in the top 20 per cent of attainers nationally in 2014.

Mr David Laws: There is no single indicator against which all school and colleges are assessed when comparing A level attainment. Therefore, information on the top 20% of attainers in Dudley North constituency has not been provided. Instead, several key indicators are given in the attached table alongside a national and Dudley local authority comparison for the 2013/14 academic year.   Local authority and national statistics are also published in the ‘A level and other level 3 results: 2013 to 2014 (revised)’ Statistical First Release.[1]  [1] www.gov.uk/government/statistics/a-level-and-other-level-3-results-2013-to-2014-revised (Table 12a) 



A level results - Dudley LA, Dudley North, England
(Excel SpreadSheet, 36 KB)

Teachers: Training

Mr David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many entrants there were into initial teacher education in England in the academic years (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12, (c) 2012-13, (d) 2013-14 and (e) 2014-15; and what the level of recruitment of such entrants for the forthcoming academic year was at 1 February 2015.

Mr David Laws: Initial teacher training (ITT) recruitment information for the 2010/11, 2011/12, 2012/13, 2013/14 and 2014/15 academic years is provided in the following table. This information is published in the annual ITT census. Information for the 2015/16 academic year will be available when we publish the next census at the end of November 2015.   UCAS publish within cycle recruitment reports, the latest of which can be found at: www.ucas.com/corporate/data-and-analysis/ucas-teacher-training-statistical-releases Initial teacher training new entrants, 2010/11 to 2014/15   New entrants to Primary programmesNew entrants to Secondary programmesTotal new entrants  2010/1118,36019,44037,800  2011/1219,87015,85035,720  2012/1320,48014,81534,880  2013/1419,44513,33432,779  2014/1519,21312,94332,543  Source: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/initial-teacher-training-trainee-number-census-2014-to-2015   Notes 1) Figures for 2014/15 are provisional and are subject to change. Figures for 2013/14 have been revised. 2) Teach First and Troops to Teachers are excluded.   3) Data refers to the number of new entrants on 8 October 2014 and was extracted on 10 November 2014. 4) Total includes forecast registrations in 2014/15.This year we have recruited 32,156 trainees with a further 387 projected to start later in the academic year. This is slightly less than the number recruited in 2013, however, this will not result in a teacher shortage since not all trainees progress into teaching immediately after training, and schools can recruit teachers from other avenues.  The Department for Education is taking a number of steps to drive up recruitment in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects for 2015/16, including increasing bursaries and scholarships for postgraduate ITT recruitment up to £25,000; paying a £5,000 bonus to maths, physics and computing trainees on our salaried scheme; and continuing to promote the subject knowledge enhancement programme.

Primary Education: Bradford

Mr David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many primary school places have been created in Bradford since 2010.

Mr David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many secondary school places have been created in Bradford since 2010.

Mr Edward Timpson: I refer the hon. Member for Bradford East, David Ward, to the reply given to my hon. Friend, the Member for Basingstoke, Maria Miller, in PQ 223454.

Free Schools: Bradford

Mr David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many free school places have been created in Bradford since 2010.

Mr Edward Timpson: We have opened seven free schools in Bradford since 2010, which once they reach their eventual capacity, will have created 3931 free school places. One further free school is currently in the pipeline. When this school reaches its eventual capacity, it will have created 420 places.

Schools: Bradford

Mr David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the total schools budget in Bradford was in each year between 2005 and 2010.

Mr David Laws: Local authorities are required under Section 251 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 to submit an education and children’s social care budget statement to the Secretary of State for Education. The table below shows the total schools revenue budget in Bradford for each financial year from 2005-06 to 2010-11.   Financial YearBradford Total Schools Budget 2005 - 2006£351,631,7032006 - 2007£367,021,2682007 - 2008£405,440,3622008 - 2009£415,047,5152009 - 2010£431,879,4212010 - 2011£452,625,979   Source: Local authority Section 251 budget statements 2005-2006 to 2010-2011

Ministry of Justice

Civil Disorder: Greater London

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, was the (a) original offence, (b) original sentence, (c) amount of the original sentence served, (d) date of the subsequent offence resulting in a custodial sentence, (e) type of further offence committed, (f) length of the subsequent custodial sentence handed down and (g) amount of the subsequent sentence actually served for each offender released from custody after serving a sentence handed down following the riots in London in 2011 who has subsequently been returned to custody.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people who were not sentenced to a term of imprisonment after offending during the riots in London in 2011 have subsequently been convicted of a further offence.

Mike Penning: It has not been possible to provide an answer in the time specified. I will write to my hon. Friend with an answer as soon as possible.

HM Inspectorate of Probation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, who in his Department took the decision not to disclose to the House of Commons Justice Committee the family connections of Mr Paul McDowell to Sodexo Justice Services as part of the pre-appointment scrutiny process.

Andrew Selous: The documentation sent to the pre-appointment scrutiny committee by the Ministry of Justice’s Arms Length Bodies Governance Division. The family connections of Mr McDowell with Sodexo Justice Services were considered carefully by the selection panel which followed the Commissioner for Public Appointments Code of Practice. At the time of the pre-appointment scrutiny of Mr McDowell, Sodexo were only at an early stage of the bidding process for contracts under Transforming Rehabilitation. There was no actual or perceived conflict of interest at that time nor any certainty that a risk of conflict would arise at a later date.

HM Inspectorate of Probation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, to what conditions and restrictions imposed by his Department Mr Paul McDowell will be subject in seeking future employment.

Andrew Selous: On further employment Mr McDowell will still be bound by the terms and conditions of his appointment. He will be obliged to keep confidential any restricted information which he has received or obtained during the course of the appointment.

HM Inspectorate of Probation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he was first informed that Mr Paul McDowell had tendered his resignation as Chief Inspector of Probation; and when he accepted that resignation.

Andrew Selous: The Secretary of State was informed on Friday 30 January 2015 that Mr McDowell had tendered his resignation. The Secretary of State accepted the resignation on the same day. This was the outcome of careful consideration on both sides and preceded the transfer of ownership of all the Community Rehabilitation Companies on 1 February 2015.

HM Inspectorate of Probation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times and on what dates he met Mr Paul McDowell during the period in which he held the post of Chief Inspector of Probation.

Andrew Selous: The Secretary of State met Paul McDowell 5 times during the period in which he held the post of Chief Inspector of Probation.

Public Appointments

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the final decision on whether to appoint a candidate to the role of Chief Inspector of (a) Probation and (b) Prisons rests with the Secretary of State alone.

Andrew Selous: Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Probation is appointed by the Secretary of State after consideration of the pre-appointment hearing report by the Justice Select Committee. By convention Her Majesty the Queen is informed of the appointment.Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons is appointed by Her Majesty the Queen on the recommendation of the Secretary of State after consideration of the pre-appointment hearing report by the Select Committee.

HM Inspectorate of Probation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much Mr Paul McDowell will receive in the financial package agreed as part of his resignation as Chief Inspector of Probation.

Andrew Selous: A settlement has been agreed in line with Treasury guidelines. The Department has agreed to pay Mr McDowell the equivalent of six month's salary, the sum incorporating payment of his notice period which has been paid in lieu.

Prime Minister

Abortion

Sir David Amess: To ask the Prime Minister, if he will make it his policy to suspend collective responsibility on any division in the House on sex selective abortions; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Cameron: Issues on matters of conscience have, by tradition, been the subject of a free vote in the House of Commons.

Iraq Committee of Inquiry

Sir David Amess: To ask the Prime Minister, if he will have discussions with the administrators of the Iraq Inquiry to ascertain a final date for publication of its report; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Prime Minister, how much the Iraq Inquiry has cost to date; what estimate he has made of the final cost of that Inquiry; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Prime Minister, how much has been spent by the Iraq Inquiry in each year since its establishment on (a) inland travel, (b) overseas travel, (c) expenses claimed by each individual witness and (d) administration costs; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Prime Minister, how much has been spent by the Iraq Inquiry in each year since its establishment on fees per diem paid to (a) the Chair and (b) each member of the Inquiry; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Cameron: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Newport West (Mr Flynn) on 3 February 2015, UIN 222484.

Tony Blair

Sir David Amess: To ask the Prime Minister, what recent discussions he has had with Tony Blair in his capacity as Quartet Representative; what was discussed at each such meeting; on what date each such meeting took place; what the location of each such meeting was; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Cameron: The Government works closely with Tony Blair in his capacity as the Quartet's Special Representative in our joint efforts to support the Middle East Peace Process. Both the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for International Development have regular engagement with Tony Blair including most recently our Ambassador to Bahrain during Tony Blair’s visit on 28 January to Bahrain. I have had discussions with Tony Blair in his capacity as Quartet Representative on a number of occasions, most recently by telephone on 25 May 2014.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Malaria

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many service personnel have been prescribed the Lariam form of mefloquine in each month of 2014 to date; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what guidance his Department gives on the prescribing of mefloquine to armed forces personnel; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: Holding answer received on 24 November 2014



Mefloquine (commercially known as Lariam) is one of a number of effective methods of malaria chemoprophylaxis used by the military in many parts of the world where Service personnel deploy. The exact choice of drug depends on a number of factors, including the region the individual is deploying to, their health and any past history of side effects. These drugs are licensed in the UK by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, based on the expert guidance of the Advisory Committee for Malaria Prevention of Public Health England. The MOD reviews its policy on the use of antimalarial drugs in line with advice from the Advisory Committee. The following numbers of UK Armed Forces personnel, Regular and Reservist, have been prescribed Mefloquine in each month of 2014: MonthNumber of PersonnelJanuary195February169March310April108May161June295July219August118September149October134November (up to 18 November)40TOTAL1,898 It should be noted that personnel have been counted in every month they were prescribed Mefloquine, but have only been counted once per month.

Defence Medical Services

Sir Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2014 to Question 217205, if he will make it his Department's policy to collect and analyse data on the extent to which armed forces medical personnel are in breach of the single service harmony guidelines; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: Holding answer received on 28 January 2015



Pursuant to the answer to question 217205, we have re-examined the possibility of collecting the data in respect of medical personnel who have breached the single service harmony guidelines, and we are now able to provide the information requested within cost; we apologise for the delay in doing so. The table attached shows, where available, the number and percentage of harmony breaches from 1 April 2010 to 1 April 2014 by each Service.   Harmony guidelines are set to ensure that there is an acceptable balance between the competing aspects of the lives of Service personnel, these being: operations; time recuperating after operational tours; personal and professional development; unit formation training; and time with families. We recognise that when harmony guidelines are breached, this can have an impact on operational effectiveness, morale and retention. That is why we are committed to minimising the number of unnecessary breaches whilst at the same time maintaining operational capability. In April 2013, the way in which harmony is measured was standardised; each service now reports over the same three year rolling period.  



Breaches of Single Services Harmony Guidelines
(Word Document, 33 KB)

Air Force: Deployment

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel are taking part in the Seedcorn programme; what the location is of each such person; and with what equipment such personnel are training.

Mr Mark Francois: Holding answer received on 10 February 2015



The number and location of personnel and equipment taking part in the Seedcorn programme are as follows: LocationNo of Seedcorn PersonnelAircraftCanadaRoyal Canadian Air Force Greenwood4CP-140 AuroraNew ZealandRoyal New Zealand Air Force Base Whenuapai4P-3K Orion/P-3K2 OrionAustraliaRoyal Australian Air Force base Edinburgh2AP-3C OrionUnited StatesNaval Air Station Patuxent River9All P-8A Poseidon trained; Additionally, for USN test purposes: 1 qualified on RQ-21ABlackjack UAV 3 trained on the MQ-4C TritonUnited StatesNaval Air Station Jacksonville11P-8A Poseidon

Advertising

Mr Frank Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on television advertising in each of the last three years.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Military Aviation Authority

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library the letter with reference DG/03/01/MOD STRAT dated 8th February 2011 between the Director General of the Military Aviation Authority and the Second Permanent Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Defence.

Mr Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Tornado Aircraft

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2015 to Question 221408, when the Interface Definition Documents were created and agreed; and who manages Boundary Control.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2015 to Question 221408, whether (a) all currently modified Tornado GR4 aircraft and (b) those undergoing modification have TCAS II fitted with a fully operative Traffic Advisory mode which has been cleared for operational use.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Tornado GR4 aircraft will have the TCAS II system installed.

Mr Philip Dunne: Installation of the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) II involves the integration of multiple Tornado GR4 aircraft systems. BAE Systems is managing this through a Weapon System Specification from which it has flowed down specific equipment specifications to the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The OEMs detail how they have met the specific equipment specification by providing a Declaration of Design Performance in a format specified by Panavia, the original manufacturer of the aircraft. BAE Systems manage boundary control.TCAS II is cleared for use in Traffic Advisory mode on the operationally capable Tornado GR4 fleet.It is planned that a minimum of 42 Tornado GR4 will be fitted with TCAS II.It should be noted this is the first time ever a Collision Avoidance System has been fitted to a combat fast jet, anywhere in the world, that we know of.

Colombia

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2014 to Question 210574, what assessment his Department has undertaken to ensure that the Colombian army units receiving British military training have not committed and will not commit human rights abuses against Colombian civilians.

Mr Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Colombia

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2014 to Question 210574, if he will place in the Library details of training provided to Colombian armed forces by the British military.

Mr Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Defence Equipment

Paul Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many invoices and to what value were paid by Defence Equipment and Supply after the statutory 30 days as required under the EU Directive 2011/7/EU in the last 12 months.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS: Armed Forces

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost to the public purse has been of training members of the armed forces to provide support for the NHS in each of the last three years.

Mr Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Colombia

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will meet the Parliamentary Friends of Colombia to discuss the training provided to the Colombian armed forces by British military personnel.

Mr Mark Francois: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Armed Forces: Young People

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what provisions are in place to ensure that all military personnel aged under 18 can access higher education, as required by Article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence is committed to ensuring that all Serving personnel have opportunities to continue their personal development throughout their Service careers. A wide range of courses are available to all Serving personnel at different levels, from basic computer skills to distance-learning degrees.The Armed Forces Learning Credits Scheme helps support development for Service personnel. Standard Learning Credits fund small-scale learning whilst Enhanced Learning Credits are designed to provide help towards the cost of gaining further or higher education qualifications. The New Employment Model programme is currently looking at ways to widen the scope of Standard Learning Credits for elective professional and personal development.

Veterans: Hearing Impairment

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what support his Department provides to ex-service personnel with tinnitus and other hearing loss difficulties.

Anna Soubry: The Ministry of Defence takes this issue very seriously and is already funding research and seeking to build a consortium of expertise in the UK to look across the 'Protect, Detect and Treat' spectrum with a focus on earlier and better detection of hearing problems. In addition we are identifying opportunities for international collaboration.The provision of healthcare for Veterans is the responsibility of NHS England and the Devolved Administrations. Veterans are entitled to priority status for conditions due to their service subject to the clinical needs of others. Further support is provided to veterans through the Veterans Welfare Service who can be reached on their free helpline 0808 1914 2 18.In his Autumn Statement 2014 on 2 December 2014 the Chancellor announced that £10 million from LIBOR fines would be made available for veterans with hearing problems. The Department for Health has met with The Royal British Legion to consider how this money can best be utilised.

Ministry of Defence Police

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether discussions between his Department and the Cabinet Office on Ministry of Defence Police pension arrangements have concluded; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: As you may be aware, this is a complex matter which raises a number of cross-Departmental issues; discussions with both the Cabinet Office and the Treasury are ongoing.

Ministry of Defence Police

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he plans for discussions on future arrangements for Ministry of Defence Police pensions to be concluded by 30 March 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: Discussions on the future arrangements for Ministry of Defence Police pensions are still ongoing. I recognise the importance of this issue to the Defence Police community and am seeking to resolve it as soon as possible.

Department for Work and Pensions

Personal Independence Payment

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of personal independence payment claims were disallowed pre-referral to the assessment providers in (a) Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency, (b) South Lanarkshire, (c) Scotland and (d) the UK in each month since April 2013; and how many such claims were disallowed due to the claimant not returning the Part 2 form within the time limit in each of those areas in each of those months.

Mr Mark Harper: For Great Britain figures relating to the number of claims disallowed pre-referral to the assessment, please refer to the Personal Independence Payment ad hoc statistical release published on 28th January 2015.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-new-claims-ad-hoc-statistics Please also refer to the following PQ response which shows what proportion of such claims are disallowed due to the claimant not returning the Part 2 form within the time limit.http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-01-28/222418/ The Department is intending on releasing Parliamentary Constituency, Local Authority and Regional level data on the number of claims disallowed pre-referral to the assessment provider and how many were disallowed due to the claimant not returning the Part 2 form within the time limit in the future.

Health and Safety Executive

Mark Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what representations he has received on the transparency of the fees charged for the Health and Safety Executive's Fee for Intervention.

Mr Mark Harper: I have received two representations about the transparency of fees invoiced to particular companies under the Fee for Intervention scheme, which were dated 12 November and 10 December 2014. An independent Panel has reviewed the implementation of Fee for Intervention, including the financial impact on small and medium enterprises found to be in breach in a harsh economic environment. The independent panel concluded that Fee for Intervention had proven effective in achieving the overarching policy aim of shifting the cost of health and safety regulation from the public purse to those businesses that break health and safety laws. It further concluded that the low level of appeals underlined that there was a low level of dissatisfaction amongst duty-holders about the practice, as well as the principle, of the scheme. The majority of invoices are being paid and HSE is taking a proportionate and supportive approach to those who are in financial difficulty.

Jobseeker's Allowance

Mr George Galloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who have claimed jobseeker's allowance since June 2011 in (a) the UK and (b) Bradford West constituency have not found work and are no longer claiming benefits.

Esther McVey: The information requested is not readily available, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Grandparents' Association

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to ensure the continued funding of the Grandparents' Association.

Steve Webb: This government is committed to building on the excellent work already in place to strengthen family relationships and as the Prime Minister announced at the Relationships Alliance summit in August 2014, we will be investing the same amount of funding in 2015/2016 as we have done in 2014/2015. Grandparents Association are subcontracted by Relate who are one of the lead suppliers delivering relationship support services. DWP will be funding this Relate contract in 2015/16 at the same level as they have received in 2014/15. It is Relate’s responsibility to decide how they manage this contract and which partners / sub-contractors they involve in supporting delivery of these services. However, we would encourage existing providers to make use of the valuable skills and expertise that are offered by the third sector, such as Grandparents Association.

Home Office

Terrorism

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been (a) prosecuted and (b) convicted of offences under sections 10, 11 and 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000 in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: Sections 11 and 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000 set out the offences relating to proscribed organisations. Section 10 does not refer to an offence.From 2009 to the end of March 2014, 6 people have been charged with proscription offences under sections 11 and 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000 as a primary offence in the UK and 6 have been convicted of a proscription offence under those sections with that as the most serious charge. A breakdown of the figures by year is set out in the table below. This is likely to understate the numbers of people who have been prosecuted and convicted for these offences as information is only collected on the most serious offence for which a person is charged or convicted.Principal offence for which persons charged in UK  2009/102010/112011/122012/132013/14TotalMembership of a proscribed organisation (ss11,12)--15-6   Principal offences for which persons convicted in UK  2009/102010/112011/122012/132013/14TotalMembership of a proscribed organisation (ss11,12)---42 & 25*-31 Note 1. Data are collated on the principal offence rule; only the most serious offence for which an offender is convicted is included. 2. The figures provided relate to convictions for all classifications of the offences specified. 3. Figures for convictions in Northern Ireland are only available for the years 2007 – 2009. 4. *The figure for convictions in 2013/14 includes a provisional figure of 25 convictions in the period January to March 2014 this figure has been provided by the Northern Ireland Courts & Tribunals Service. The published statistics broken down by year for Great Britain can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/347817/operation-police-powers-terrorism-1314-tabs.odsThe published statistics on charges broken down by year between 2011/12-2013/14 for Northern Ireland can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics?departments%5B%5D=northern-ireland-officeProscription supports other disruptive activities, including immigration disruptions, prosecution for other offences, EU asset freezes and messaging to deter fundraising and recruitment. Proscription can also demonstrate support for other members of the international community in tackling terrorism.

Asylum: Children

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied asylum-seeking children granted discretionary leave to remain were subject to an enforced removal after turning 18 in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office does not return Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) whose claims have been refused, unless adequate reception arrangements are in place in the country to which the child is to be returned. If adequate reception arrangements are absent, most unaccompanied children are granted UASC Leave (formally known as UASC discretionary leave) which usually lasts until their 18th birthday.When a child passes the age of 18 and UASC Leave expires, they are no longer considered to be a UASC and are therefore required to take steps to voluntarily return or seek further leave to remain. If the individual does not seek to regularise their stay through further applications or leave is not granted they may be removed in accordance with the Immigration Rules and Published Home Office policy should they fail to leave voluntarily.The table below outlines the number of individuals removed in each of the last five years who had previously been granted discretionary leave to remain as an unaccompanied asylum-seeking child but has since passed the age of 18 and had not regularised their leave or left the UK voluntarily. YearTotal200932010432011119201257201388201440Grand Total350

Arrests: Foreign Nationals

Mr Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proportion of foreign national arrests under Operation Nexus were made up of each of the top three nationalities involved in the last year for which figures are available.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 09 February 2015



Following arrest on criminal offence grounds, checks are carried out by Immigration Officers from Operation Nexus to establish nationality and possible immigration interest . Therefore no individuals are arrested solely under Operation Nexus. Operation Nexus officers will work with Police to carry out nationality and status checks, and to establish immigration history. Where appropriate and in parallel immigration interventions are applied. This may include detention, further investigation, revocation of current leave or removal at the conclusion of criminal sentencing served.The top 3 nationalities encountered and processed in this manner during 2014 by Operation Nexus Officers were:1. India 16.8%2. Pakistan 10.1%3. Nigeria 9.4%

Driving under Influence

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many drink-driving offences were recorded by police force and successful prosecutions there have been in (a) England and (b) Wales in each of the last five years.

Lynne Featherstone: Holding answer received on 09 February 2015



The requested data is not collected centrally by the Home Office.Home Office collects arrest data for notifiable offences at offence group level. The Home Office also collected police recorded crime data at offence code level for notifiable offences. Road traffic offences, including drink-driving, using a handheld mobile phone while driving and dangerous driving are non-notifiable offences.The Home Office does collect data on the following:• The number of breath tests carried out by police, and the number of these that are positive/refused (see ‘Breath tests’ tables in the link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tables-for-police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-2012-to-2013).• The number of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issue for various motoring offences, including use of a handheld mobile phone while driving, careless driving and speeding offences (see ‘Fixed penalty notices’ tables in the link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tables-for-police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-2012-to-2013).• The number of offences recorded by police for ‘causing death by dangerous driving’, ‘causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving’ and ‘causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs’. Details of these can be found in Table A4 of the ‘Appendix Tables’ in the link (http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-372973).Ministry of Justice publish data on prosecutions for road traffic offences. The number of defendants proceeded against for summary motoring offences in England and Wales from 2009 to 2013 can be found in the ‘Outcomes by Offence’ table in the link (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly-december-2013).Ministry of Justice collect data on prosecutions for various offences at police force area level. The following tables contain data on the number of persons proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts of drink-driving offences (table 1), dangerous driving (table 2), and offences relating to driving whilst using a mobile phone (table 3). Data is broken down by police force area from 2009 to 2013. Criminal court proceedings data for 2014 are planned for publication in May 2015.   



Tables 1-3
(Excel SpreadSheet, 86 KB)

Dangerous Driving

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many dangerous driving offences were recorded by each police force in (a) England and (b) Wales in each of the last five years; and how many of those offences were successfully prosecuted in each of those countries in each of those years.

Lynne Featherstone: The requested data is not collected centrally by the Home Office.Home Office collects arrest data for notifiable offences at offence group level. The Home Office also collected police recorded crime data at offence code level for notifiable offences. Road traffic offences, including drink-driving, using a handheld mobile phone while driving and dangerous driving are non-notifiable offences.The Home Office does collect data on the following:• The number of breath tests carried out by police, and the number of these that are positive/refused (see ‘Breath tests’ tables in the link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tables-for-police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-2012-to-2013).• The number of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issue for various motoring offences, including use of a handheld mobile phone while driving, careless driving and speeding offences (see ‘Fixed penalty notices’ tables in the link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tables-for-police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-2012-to-2013).• The number of offences recorded by police for ‘causing death by dangerous driving’, ‘causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving’ and ‘causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs’. Details of these can be found in Table A4 of the ‘Appendix Tables’ in the link (http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-372973).Ministry of Justice publish data on prosecutions for road traffic offences. The number of defendants proceeded against for summary motoring offences in England and Wales from 2009 to 2013 can be found in the ‘Outcomes by Offence’ table in the link (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly-december-2013).Ministry of Justice collect data on prosecutions for various offences at police force area level. The following tables contain data on the number of persons proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts of drink-driving offences (table 1), dangerous driving (table 2), and offences relating to driving whilst using a mobile phone (table 3). Data is broken down by police force area from 2009 to 2013. Criminal court proceedings data for 2014 are planned for publication in May 2015.   



Tables 1-3
(Excel SpreadSheet, 86 KB)

Driving under Influence

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many drink-driving offences were recorded by each police force in (a) England and (b) Wales in each of the last five years; and how many successful prosecutions of such offences there were in each of those countries in each of those years.

Lynne Featherstone: Holding answer received on 09 February 2015



The requested data is not collected centrally by the Home Office.Home Office collects arrest data for notifiable offences at offence group level. The Home Office also collected police recorded crime data at offence code level for notifiable offences. Road traffic offences, including drink-driving, using a handheld mobile phone while driving and dangerous driving are non-notifiable offences.The Home Office does collect data on the following:• The number of breath tests carried out by police, and the number of these that are positive/refused (see ‘Breath tests’ tables in the link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tables-for-police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-2012-to-2013).• The number of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issue for various motoring offences, including use of a handheld mobile phone while driving, careless driving and speeding offences (see ‘Fixed penalty notices’ tables in the link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tables-for-police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-2012-to-2013).• The number of offences recorded by police for ‘causing death by dangerous driving’, ‘causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving’ and ‘causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs’. Details of these can be found in Table A4 of the ‘Appendix Tables’ in the link (http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-372973).Ministry of Justice publish data on prosecutions for road traffic offences. The number of defendants proceeded against for summary motoring offences in England and Wales from 2009 to 2013 can be found in the ‘Outcomes by Offence’ table in the link (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly-december-2013).Ministry of Justice collect data on prosecutions for various offences at police force area level. The following tables contain data on the number of persons proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts of drink-driving offences (table 1), dangerous driving (table 2), and offences relating to driving whilst using a mobile phone (table 3). Data is broken down by police force area from 2009 to 2013. Criminal court proceedings data for 2014 are planned for publication in May 2015.   



Tables 1-3
(Excel SpreadSheet, 86 KB)

Driving Offences: Mobile Phones

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many driving offences relating to mobile telephone use were recorded by each police force in (a) England and (b) Wales in each of the last five years; and how many such offences were successfully prosecuted in each of those countries in each of those years.

Lynne Featherstone: Holding answer received on 09 February 2015



The requested data is not collected centrally by the Home Office.Home Office collects arrest data for notifiable offences at offence group level. The Home Office also collected police recorded crime data at offence code level for notifiable offences. Road traffic offences, including drink-driving, using a handheld mobile phone while driving and dangerous driving are non-notifiable offences.The Home Office does collect data on the following:• The number of breath tests carried out by police, and the number of these that are positive/refused (see ‘Breath tests’ tables in the link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tables-for-police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-2012-to-2013).• The number of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issue for various motoring offences, including use of a handheld mobile phone while driving, careless driving and speeding offences (see ‘Fixed penalty notices’ tables in the link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tables-for-police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales-2012-to-2013).• The number of offences recorded by police for ‘causing death by dangerous driving’, ‘causing death by careless or inconsiderate driving’ and ‘causing death by careless driving when under the influence of drink or drugs’. Details of these can be found in Table A4 of the ‘Appendix Tables’ in the link (http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-372973).Ministry of Justice publish data on prosecutions for road traffic offences. The number of defendants proceeded against for summary motoring offences in England and Wales from 2009 to 2013 can be found in the ‘Outcomes by Offence’ table in the link (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly-december-2013).Ministry of Justice collect data on prosecutions for various offences at police force area level. The following tables contain data on the number of persons proceeded against at magistrates’ courts and found guilty at all courts of drink-driving offences (table 1), dangerous driving (table 2), and offences relating to driving whilst using a mobile phone (table 3). Data is broken down by police force area from 2009 to 2013. Criminal court proceedings data for 2014 are planned for publication in May 2015.   



Tables 1-3
(Excel SpreadSheet, 86 KB)

Seized Articles

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many seizures of (a) tobacco, (b) alcohol and (c) drugs were made by UK Border Force staff from small boat traffic at UK ports in each year since 2010; and what the value of those seizures was.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office records these categories of seizures in various ways. To obtain an accurate record of how many seizures of this type were made at the border could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Immigration Controls

Mr David Hanson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many illegal migrants who entered a UK port on small vessels were apprehended at that port in each year since 2010.

James Brokenshire: This information is not recorded in a reportable field on Home Office databases. Obtaining such information would therefore require a manual search of records and could only be achieved at a disproportionate cost.

Entry Clearances: Iraq

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of people from the Kurdistan Region in Iraq were refused an entry visa to the UK in (a) 2005, (b) 2010 and (c) the last year for which figures are available.

James Brokenshire: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Surrey Police

Mr Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the value of the police grant provided by her Department to Surrey Police was in each year from 2009-10 to 2015-16.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 11 February 2015



The table shows the amount of core Government revenue funding provided by the Home Office to the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey (Surrey Police Authority prior to 2012) in both cash and real terms.From 2014/15, the Home Office is also paying out Council Tax Freeze Grant funding and Local Council Tax Support (LCTS) funding to PCCs in England. This was previously paid by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). This will total £9.2m for Surrey in both 2014/15 and 2015/16 and is excluded from the table to assist comparison with previous years. 



Table - Cash - Real Terms - PQ 223700
(Excel SpreadSheet, 26 KB)

British Nationals Abroad: Ethiopia

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on which occasions the Ethiopian government requested the return of Mr Andargachew Tsige to its jurisdiction since 2004; and what response was given to those requests.

James Brokenshire: As a matter of long standing policy and practice, the United Kingdom will neither confirm nor deny the existence of an extradition request made or received by this country before an arrest is made pursuant to the request.

HM Treasury

Pensions: Advisory Services

Gregg McClymont: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many agents offering guidance through the Pensions Wise scheme will be based outside London.

Gregg McClymont: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the capacity within the citizens advice network to deal with Pensions Wise enquiries.

Gregg McClymont: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, where the agents offering guidance through the Pensions Wise scheme will be based.

Andrea Leadsom: Pension Wise telephone sessions will be delivered by the Pensions Advisory Service, based at its headquarters in London.   Face to face sessions are being delivered by Citizens Advice England and Wales, Citizens Advice Scotland and Citizens Advice Northern Ireland. These will be offered in selected bureaux across the United Kingdom with the aim of providing good geographic coverage and ensuring the service is accessible across the UK.   The government is working closely with the three Citizens Advice bodies to ensure that they are appropriately funded and supported to build sufficient capacity in the bureaux network.

Tax Collection

Mark Field: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 14 January 2015 to Question 220189, whether his Department has developed specific guidelines to ensure that HM Revenue and Customs acts reasonably when dealing with taxpayers who seek additional time to pay as a consequence of accelerated payment notices.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) writes to individuals some weeks before issuing an Accelerated Payment notice, letting them know that one is on its way. The most important thing for anyone who thinks they might have genuine difficulty in paying the amounts due under an Accelerated Payment notice is to contact HMRC to discuss possible alternative payment arrangements.   In cases of genuine hardship, HMRC will consider time to pay. The priority in cases of genuine hardship will be to get people on to a payment track so that the debt is paid as quickly as possible. HMRC has put in place standard guidelines for staff dealing with these requests and these are carefully monitored.   HMRC will always ensure that its action is proportionate and that it is realistic that any agreed payment tracks will result in the liability being paid.

Occupational Pensions

Cathy Jamieson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any additional resources will be available to HM Revenue and Customs for conducting due diligence on newly-registered pension schemes.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has an active compliance programme to tackle all attempted abuse of the pension tax rules. As part of this, they continue to work to identify promoters and schemes which seek to abuse the pension tax rules. The fit and proper person test for scheme administrators introduced in September 2014 is another important tool to help HMRC tackle these schemes and to protect members’ funds. HMRC takes a risk based approach to compliance which allows it to match resource at the right time to tackle this abuse. This resource includes pension specialists, and where appropriate, staff from many other areas across HMRC. HMRC is also working with other Government Departments to ensure that appropriate action is taken to stop any abuse.

Construction: Taxation

Guto Bebb: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the number of workers using the Construction Industry Scheme; and whether there has been a significant variation in such numbers during the last year.

Mr David Gauke: The latest assessment of the number of workers using the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) is 1,006,000 subcontractors. No assessment has been made of variation in numbers in the last year.

Public Sector: Procurement

Chi Onwurah: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the effect of refunding VAT for contracted out of services but not for cloud services on the ability of small businesses to compete for public sector contracts.

Mr David Gauke: The Government welcomes small businesses competing for public sector contracts. When determining eligibility for VAT refunds, it is the nature of the IT contract rather than how it is delivered, that counts.

Public Sector: Procurement

Chi Onwurah: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the effect of COS14 VAT rules on public sector procurement of off the shelf software services.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not hold any data on the purchase of off the shelf software, by the public sector.

Theatre: Manchester

Chris Bryant: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.201 in the Autumn Statement 2014, how the £78 million allocated to The Factory Manchester will be spent; and from which departmental budget that funding will come.

Danny Alexander: The £78m exchequer funding announced for The Factory Manchester at the 2014 Autumn Statement will be spent on the construction of a new theatre and exhibition space in Manchester.  Final funding arrangements will be determined once delivery plans have been finalised.

Child Benefit: EU  Nationals

Philip Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of how many nationals of each EU country are in the UK and claiming child benefit for children in (a) the UK and (b) another EU country.

Priti Patel: The information is not held, as we do not hold nationality information for child benefit claimants.  I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given on 14 May 2014 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140514/text/140514w0004.htm#1405159002823

Inheritance Tax

Mr David Blunkett: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the incidence of liability for the payment of inheritance tax was in each parliamentary constituency, based on the primary residence of the deceased in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12, (d) 2012-13 and (e) 2013-14.

Mr David Blunkett: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much inheritance tax was paid by estates in each parliamentary constituency, based on the primary residence of the deceased in (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11, (c) 2011-12, (d) 2012-13 and (e) 2013-14.

Mr David Gauke: The information requested about Inheritance Tax payments could only be provided at a disproportionate cost and information about the whereabouts of the primary residences of beneficiaries is not available.   Information about the levels of Inheritance Tax liabilities arising from deaths in Government Office Regions is published as part of the Official Statistics updates. The latest version of this table has been published at https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/338989/140729Table12-10DUChecked.pdf. Breakdowns of this data by Westminster Parliamentary constituencies could only be provided at disproportionate cost.   A breakdown of the estimated numbers of deaths resulting in Inheritance Tax liabilities by Westminster Parliamentary constituencies is published as part of the annual Inheritance Tax Official Statistics updates. The most recent year for which this data is available is 2011-12.   a) Estimates for 2009-10 deaths are available from the National Archives at http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20130104134347/http://hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/inheritance/table12-12.pdf.   b) Estimates for 2010-11 deaths are available from the National Archives at http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140104134347/http://hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/inheritance/table12-12.pdf.   c) Estimates for 2011-12 deaths are available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/inheritance-tax-provisional-numbers-of-taxpaying-estates-passing-on-death-in-2010-to-2011-by-regions-and-parliamentary-constituencies.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

John Woodcock: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total advertising budget is for the campaign to promote the Help to Buy scheme; and how much has been spent on (a) television, (b) newspaper, (c) online, (d) radio and (e) other advertising mentioning that scheme in the last 24 months.

Andrea Leadsom: As part of the Government’s transparency agenda, all Departments publish details of transactions above £25,000. Data is published one month in arrears can be found at:   www.gov.uk/government/collections/25000-spend

Pensions: Advisory Services

Cathy Jamieson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February to Question 222173, how many of the 300 trained staff working to deliver the Pension Wise service will be delivering telephone sessions via the Pensions Advisory Service based at its headquarters in London.

Cathy Jamieson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February to Question 222173, what the locations are of the Citizens Advice Bureaux in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland where trained staff deliver the Pension Wise service.

Cathy Jamieson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February to Question 222173, how many of the 300 trained staff working to deliver the Pension Wise guidance will provide face to face sessions in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland.

Andrea Leadsom: The figure of 300 trained guidance specialists is an estimate across the whole of the service. It is the responsibility of our delivery partners to determine exactly how many trained guidance specialists they will need in each area. HM Treasury has plans in place to boost capacity, particularly to deal with any initial surge of demand.   Citizens Advice has published the names of 44 bureaux which are in the first tranche of participating bureaux in England and Wales. Bureaux will use also a range of satellite locations to deliver guidance. Details of a further tranche of bureaux and satellite locations will be published shortly, along with announcements from Citizens Advice Scotland and Citizens Advice Northern Ireland of their participating bureaux.

Tobacco: Packaging

Philip Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the introduction of standardised tobacco packaging on the UK illicit tobacco market.

Philip Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment HM Revenue and Customs has made of the potential effect of the possible introduction of standardised tobacco products on the illicit tobacco market in the UK.

Priti Patel: HMRC have carried out an assessment of the potential effect of standardised packaging on the illicit tobacco market, working with Border Force and the National Crime Agency to develop the assessment. HMRC plans for their assessment to be published alongside the Department of Health’s consultation summary in due course.

Welfare Tax Credits: EU Nationals

Philip Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the proportion of nationals of each EU country who reside in the UK who are claiming tax credits.

Priti Patel: The information is not available.

Child Benefit: EU Nationals

Philip Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the proportion of nationals of each EU country who reside in the UK who are claiming child benefit for children in (a) the UK and (b) another EU country.

Priti Patel: The information is not held.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Wind Power

Mr Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what guidance his Department issues on planning applications for on-shore wind farms; and if he will make a statement.

Matthew Hancock: The Department issued guidance on planning applications for nationally significant on-shore wind farms in the Overarching National Policy Statement for Energy (EN-1) and in the National Policy Statement for Renewable Energy Infrastructure (EN-3) which were ratified by Parliament in July 2011. This can be viewed online at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-policy-statements-for-energy-infrastructure.



Overarching National Policy Statement for Energy 
(PDF Document, 960.06 KB)




National Policy Statement for Renewable Energy Inf
(PDF Document, 344.8 KB)

Fracking

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the Government is a party to the Shale Community Engagement Charter.

Matthew Hancock: No. The Shale Community Engagement Charter is an industry led commitment. The Government tabled an amendment to the Infrastructure Bill on 5 February which would require a community benefits scheme to be in place before my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State gives consent for hydraulic fracturing.

Fracking

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what liabilities regime is in place to cover the costs of (a) drill site remediation and (b) post-closure contamination of local acquifers by companies drilling for shale gas using hydraulic fracturing in cases where the company goes bankrupt or otherwise ceases trading after closure of the fracking site.

Matthew Hancock: When operations finish, the licensees are responsible for safe decommissioning of the well(s) and for restoring the well-site to its previous state or a suitable condition for re-use. The Environment Agency also requires a site condition report to be submitted by the operator, demonstrating that the site is in a satisfactory state before allowing the operator to surrender its environmental permit.If environmental damage occurs then, in accordance with statutory requirements and government policy, remediation of the damage will be dealt with under the main regimes for dealing with contamination. These are Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2009 and Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. These regimes provide for the remediation of environmental damage and contaminated land (including water), and they apply to the extraction of both petroleum and deep geothermal energy.The petroleum licence issued by DECC enables the Government to ensure that funds are available to discharge any liability for damage from activities under the licence. DECC accordingly assesses, before any petroleum licence is issued, whether a company has adequate financial capacity for its planned operations. DECC also checks at the drilling and, where relevant, production stage that the company has sufficient funding and appropriate insurance.

Energy Supply

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate has been made of the number of (a) Fast Reserve, (b) Short Term Operating Reserve and (c) BM Start up Reserve services triggered by National Grid from units in (i) England, (ii) Scotland and (iii) Wales in each month since July 2010.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 09 February 2015



The Department does not hold this information. It is the responsibility of National Grid as System Operator to procure enough reserve for the system overall, and procure any system services which might be required for real-time balancing of the system. Further details on these services can be found at: http://www2.nationalgrid.com/uk/services/balancing-services/.

Energy

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if he will take steps to ensure that families with children are treated as a vulnerable group by energy companies.

Matthew Hancock: A new Strategy and Policy Statement, which Government consulted on last year makes it clear that helping vulnerable households is one of the Government’s strategic priorities to which Ofgem should have regard when carrying out its regulatory functions. The statement will replace the existing Social and Environmental Statutory Guidance to the Gas and Electricity Market Authority, as recommended by the Ofgem Review of 2010-11.

Cabinet Office

Unemployment

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the average proportion was of people from a black and minority ethnic background who were unemployed for longer than (a) 12 months and (b) two years in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Rob Wilson: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 09 February 2015.The correct answer should have been:

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 


ONS Letter to Member - Unemployment
(PDF Document, 110.68 KB)




ONS Letter to Member - Unemployment (amended)
(PDF Document, 108.39 KB)

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 


ONS Letter to Member - Unemployment
(PDF Document, 110.68 KB)




ONS Letter to Member - Unemployment (amended)
(PDF Document, 108.39 KB)

Iraq Committee of Inquiry

Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has had any discussions with the Iraq Inquiry on draft text provided to his Department under the Maxwellisation process.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many times the Chair and members of the Iraq Inquiry have met hon. Members since its establishment; when and for what purpose such meetings took place; where the location of each meeting was; what the duration of each meeting was; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many press officers at what grades have been employed by the Iraq Inquiry in each year since its establishment; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the Iraq Inquiry; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent discussions he has had with the Treasury about the cost to the public purse of the Iraq Inquiry; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much the Iraq Inquiry (a) budgeted and (b) spent on security in each year since its establishment; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what Directorate in his Department has policy responsibility for the Iraq Inquiry; how many officials at what grade are employed in this Directorate; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many computers have been (a) owned and (b) leased by the Iraq Inquiry in each year since its establishment; at what cost; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much was spent on postage by the Iraq Inquiry in each year since its establishment; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent discussions (a) he and (b) the Prime Minister has had with the US administration about the publication by the Iraq Inquiry of conversations between (i) Tony Blair and President Bush and (ii) the right hon. Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath and President Bush in the period before and after the invasion of Iraq; what response was received; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials at what grade have been employed by the Iraq Inquiry in each year; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the oral evidence of Sir John Chilcot to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 4 February 2015, HC 1027, Questions 1 and 22, what criteria his Department uses to decide whether advice from government law officers to Ministers can be published in full or in part.

Paul Flynn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the oral evidence of Sir John Chilcot to the Foreign Affairs Committee on 4 February 2015, HC 1027, Questions 20 to 22, over what time period his Department cleared for public release with the publication of the Iraq Inquiry report 7,000 government documents submitted by the Iraq Inquiry for clearance.

Mr Francis Maude: The Iraq Inquiry is independent of Government. Meetings held by the Inquiry, and the Maxwellisation process, are a matter for the Inquiry Committee.A breakdown of costs incurred by the Inquiry, and information on the size and makeup of its Secretariat are published on the Inquiry’s website and updated after the end of each financial year. The Government has assured the Inquiry it would have the resources necessary to do its job properly.The Iraq Inquiry has submitted requests to declassify material from government documents throughout the life of the Inquiry. Government considers each request once it has been received, under the terms of the Protocol between the Iraq Inquiry and Her Majesty’s Government regarding Documents and Other Written and Electronic Information, available through the Inquiry’s website.In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of ministerial discussions are not normally disclosed.

Departmental Records

Mr Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish a list of the title of each file that has been destroyed by his Department in the last 12 months.

Mr Tom Watson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's record and retention policy; when that policy was last reviewed; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Francis Maude: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 10 February 2015 to PQ223654-PQ223655.

Unemployment: Young People

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 2 February 2015 to Question 222628, when he expects to be able to release data on unemployment figures for December 2014.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Unemployment Figures
(PDF Document, 110.09 KB)

Crime: Surrey

Mr Dominic Raab: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the level of reported crime was for each type of offence in the Surrey police force area in each year since 2009.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Reported Crime
(PDF Document, 216.26 KB)

Government Departments: Trade Unions

Nia Griffith: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what his policy is on the deduction of trade union subscriptions from payroll in the Civil Service.

Mr Francis Maude: This is a matter that is delegated to individual Departments.

Government Departments: Buildings

Mr Henry Bellingham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent discussions he has had with his minsiterial colleagues in other Departments on disposal of redundant government buildings; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Francis Maude: At Budget 2014 the Chancellor reported that Government had identified £5 billion of land and property to release by 2020.My Department is working with others across Government to accelerate land release to support housing and local growth.We also introduced the Right to Contest last year. This allows the public to challenge Government to release sites to be put to better economic use.

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he last met the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to discuss the extent of her powers and responsibilities.

Mr Oliver Letwin: I meet with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, Dame Julie Mellor, on a regular basis – most recently on Monday 2 February 2015. Our meetings cover a range of issues including the work I am leading to explore reforms of the Ombudsman Landscape.

Government Departments: Buildings

Stephen Metcalfe: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress has been made on ensuring that the Government disposes of properties which it no longer needs.

Mr Francis Maude: The government estate is now two million square metres smaller than in 2010 with a near 20 % reduction in overall holdings. Over 1500 buildings, including over 800 freehold properties, have been exited in this Parliament generating over £1.4 billion in receipts and reducing annual running costs by £625 million. Not only are we shrinking the size of the Estate but we are also getting more efficient at utilising the space we occupy. By the end of 2015 we will be well on track to reach 10 square metres per FTE. This makes the United Kingdom one of the most efficient governments in terms of estates utilisation in the world.

Department for Culture Media and Sport

Public Libraries

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of what proportion of the population visited a public library in each financial year since 2009-10.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The detail requested is not held centrally by this Department, nor is it collected by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy as part of the annual public library statistics.

Mobile Phones

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2014 to Question 209987, how much of the budget for the Mobile Infrastructure Project has been spent to date; how much of that target he expects to be spent before March 2015; to what date the project has been extended; how many sites (a) are in acquisition stage, (b) have submitted planning applications, (c) are being built and (d) have gone live; and to how many premises coverage has been provided.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Mobile Infrastructure Project is a UK-wide project, to take mobile coverage to remote communities for the first time, with up to £150m capital funding available from Government. The operating costs for the infrastructure built with Government capital funding will be met by the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).Spend to date on the project to end of January 2015 is £4.89m and the project forecast spend in this financial year is approximately £9.5m. The contracted supplier, Arqiva, is paid only on the completion of key milestones, with the bulk of the payment in respect of each site made in the final build phase.As at 09 February 15 there were:116 active sites with grant works for acquisition of which108 are in acquisition stage (includes design activities, planning process and negotiations with site provider) and8 sites with grant works for build.Of the 116 sites with grant works for acquisition, 55 sites have planning applications submitted, with 16 of these having received a successful planning determination.As noted above, there are 8 sites for which all acquisition activities are complete, and grant works for build issued.Of these 8 sites with grant works for build there are 1 on hold (due to a Judicial Review of the Local Council’s planning decision) 3 about to start on site, 2 sitesin construction and 2 have gone live, providing coverage to approximately 400 premises.

Arts

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of early intervention in promoting (a) reading, (b) arts participation, (c) sports participation and (d) experiencing the arts.

Mrs Helen Grant: This Government has demonstrated via our music and cultural education programme as well as public funding via the Arts Council and Sport England, its belief in the importance of giving children the enriching experiences they need at a young age in arts, culture and sport. These programmes develop knowledge and passion that spark a love of arts and sport to last a lifetime.

Policy

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what the most recent initiative is in which his Department used nudge policies.

Mrs Helen Grant: The most recent example of the Department’s use of nudge policies was on ‘Complementary and Alternative Pathways to Equality’. This work was commissioned in 2012 jointly by the Government Equalities Office (GEO) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). It was led by Professor Shamit Saggar of the University of Sussex as the Fellow, supported by a DCMS analyst following the Machinery of Government move of the GEO to the DCMS. The report was published in 2014.The report can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cape-behaviour-change-nudge-insights-in-equalities-policy

Public Libraries

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of statistics published by Public Libraries News on library closures and libraries transferred to volunteers.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The DCMS has not made any assessment of the accuracy of statistics published by Public Libraries News on library closures and libraries transferred to volunteers, but does carefully monitor and assess proposals by local authorities in England for any changes to their library service provision.

Policy

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will promote the use of randomised controlled trials and nudge policies through his Department's agencies and NDPBs.

Mrs Helen Grant: DCMS officials are represented on the Cross-Government Behavioural Insights Network. Part of their role is to assess the application and use of randomised control trials (RCTs) and nudge policies to the policies of the Department and NDPBs.

Policy

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions Ministers and officials in his Department have had with the What Works Networks or Nudge Unit on implementing the techniques recommended by those bodies in his Department.

Mrs Helen Grant: DCMS officials had contact with the Behavioural Insights Unit in November 2014. This contact came via their representation on the Cross-Government Behavioural Insights Network in response to a request for bids to their Harvard Programme.DCMS officials are directly involved in the What Works Centre for Wellbeing. As this Centre is currently being established, no techniques have yet been recommended. However, the Department welcomes the opportunity to explore the use of techniques that may in due course be recommended.

Leisure: Children

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what (a) arts and (b) sports participation for children his Department has supported since May 2010.

Mrs Helen Grant: Between 2012-2016, the Government will spend over £400million on music and cultural education, which includes the continued support of the Museums and Schools programme that works to increase the number of people visiting regional and national museums in areas where take up has been traditionally low. We have also clearly shown our commitment to getting young people playing sport regularly by investing almost £450 million as part of Sport England’s 2012-17 Youth and Community Strategy. The Government has given primary school headteachers over £450million of funding to spend on improving PE and our own research shows they are using it to deliver more as well as better sport.

Public Libraries

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of whether the number of library authorities is sufficient to meet the needs of public library users.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The DCMS has not made any assessment of whether the number of library authorities is sufficient to meet the needs of public library users. This is for individual Library Authorities to determine.

UN Convention for Protection of Cultural Property in Event of Armed Conflict

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to accede to the Hague Convention on Protection of Cultural Property in Time of War before 7 May 2015.

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Government plans to accede to the Hague Commission on Protection of Cultural Property in Time of War before 7 May 2015.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The legislative priorities for this session were set out in the Queen’s Speech in June. The Government remains committed to protecting cultural heritage and the Hague convention and its protocols already informs the Armed Forces’ law of armed conflict doctrine and training policy, particularly with regard to respect for cultural property, precautions in attack and recognition of the protective emblem.

Greater London

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what proportion of his Department's grant-in-aid funding goes to London-based institutions.

Mrs Helen Grant: The Department does not allocate grant-in-aid on a geographical basis. The grant-in-aid is allocated across the Department's Arm's Length Bodies as shown on page 128 of the DCMS Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14. However, most of these Arm's Length Bodies have operations both in London and outside of London and the Department does not ask them to allocate grant-in-aid on a geographical basis.The DCMS Annual Report and Accounts 2013-14 gives a Country and Regional Analysis on page 206, but this relates to total expenditure, not just that channeled through grant-in-aid; it should be noted that this table apportions the expenditure based on the region which benefits, not necessarily according to where the expenditure occurs. Please find the table on the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dcms-annual-report-and-accounts-2013-14'

Public Libraries

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many Library Service Points open for 10 hours or more per week there were in the UK in each of the last five years.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Chartered Institute for Public Finance and Accountancy compile and publish annual library statistics, copies of which are available in the House Libraries.

Small Businesses: Broadband

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of upload speeds needed by small and medium-sized enterprises in (a) the creative and digital and (b) other sectors.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Connectivity requirements will vary depending on the size of SME and type of business. Creative industries companies, for example, need high data rates to send and receive large quantities of digital content. In November 2014, Ofcom issued a call for inputs from SMEs on current levels of availability, choice and quality of service. The responses received will inform a report in Spring 2015 on how the market for fixed and mobile connectivity is serving SMEs. The Broadband Stakeholder Group also plans to commission research into the current and future broadband needs of small businesses.

ICT: Staff

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent estimate he has made of the number of people employed in the IT workforce (a) now and (b) in 2022.

Mr Edward Vaizey: There are various definitions of the sector. Where the ICT sector is defined as the UN and OECD definition of ICT and Content and Media there were 1.3m jobs in the ICT sector in 2013 which uses the latest figures available for the sector. This definition incorporates manufacturing of computers, communication equipment and consumer electronics, wholesale of information and communication equipment and information and communication services. The projected forecasted figure is not available for 2022 but it is estimated that employment will grow significantly faster than employment in other sectors at 3.2% a year compared with 0.8% for the rest of the economy.

Telford

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much and what proportion of the cost of his visit to Telford on 12 December 2014 was paid out of public funds.

Mrs Helen Grant: My Right Hon. Friend the Secretary of State did not visit Telford on the 12th December 2014.

ICT: Greater London

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the consequences for his policies of the report London Futures: Agiletown, published by Deloitte in November 2014.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Deloitte report highlights concerns that UK jobs will increasingly be replaced by technology over the next twenty years and how this will impact on the labour market. There is always a degree of uncertainty about future labour markets, but the UK has one of the most flexible labour markets which puts us on the front foot in terms of adapting to technological change. A recent study by PEW on the future of the internet showed that the views of experts are evenly spread on whether or not automation would displace more jobs than it creates by 2025. It is clear that digitisation and automation will create new employment opportunities and this will require people to acquire new skills. The Government is working on a number of fronts to make sure the UK is well placed to seize these opportunities. For example, in September 2014, we introduced a new computing curriculum to create a digitally confident population with the skills for current and future digital careers. We are working in partnership with industry, and have provided £18.4m of funding for the Tech Partnership to enable employers to articulate and address their skills needs. Our reformed apprenticeships allow employers to develop standards that meet their requirements. In November 2014, Government announced an innovative degree apprenticeship, which will enable young people to get an honours degree alongside on the job training.

Public Libraries: WiFi

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of when free WiFi will be provided in all public libraries; how many and what proportion of libraries currently have free WiFi; and what information he holds on the average cost to libraries of providing free WiFi.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The DCMS has not made any estimate of when free Wi-Fi will be provided in all public libraries. Current desktop research indicates that up to 2000 public libraries (two-thirds) already have Wi-Fi. I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 14 January 2015 to PQ 220293.

Arts: Secondary Education

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the change in the number of secondary school children participating in (a) music, (b) drama, (c) dance and (d) art between 2010 and 2014.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Taking Part survey does not collect information on participation specifically for secondary school children. Please find the Taking Part survey on the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/taking-part

Public Service Broadcasting

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to set a value for retransmission of public service broadcast channels on pay TV platforms in the UK.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Currently public services broadcasters are not able to charge cable operators for the retransmission of their PSB services. This is an area where many competing interests – particularly those of broadcasters, platforms, and of viewers - must be balanced. Government is going to consult on whether the time is right to remove section 73 of the Copyright, Design and Patents act, and whether this allows PSBs to invest more in high-quality content. But rather than doing so in isolation, we will be looking at this in the wider context, examining the framework of regulation that governs the balance of payments between broadcasters and platforms

Arts: Young People

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Artsmark programme in measuring (a) arts provision and (b) participation in the arts.

Mr Edward Vaizey: ​Since 2004, the Artsmark programme has supported schools, further education colleges and youth justice settings to review and enhance the artistic and cultural offer that they have to children and young people. Artsmark is an important part of the work of the ten regional Bridge organisations funded by the Arts Council which work to drive participation in their area. ​Data collected via our Taking Part survey (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/taking-part) shows that ​arts participation overall has increased from 97.2 per cent in 2008/09 to 98.9 per cent in 2013/14 for children aged between 5 and 10 and in 2013/14, overall arts participation for children ages 11-15 was at 99.4 per cent, a similar level to 2008/09. In October 2014, the Arts Council announced that they will refresh the Artsmark scheme so it can be as effective as possible and the new version will launch in Autumn 2015.

Arts: Secondary Education

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on increasing participation in (a) music, (b) drama, (c) dance and (d) art at secondary school level.

Mr Edward Vaizey: My Right. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and my Right Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education recently announced an additional £109 million for music and cultural education for 2015/16 taking the amount invested in music and cultural education in this Parliament to over £400 million. This includes a further £200,000 of Government funding for the National Youth Dance Company which was created following the reviews of cultural education commissioned by this Government. The Company provides talented performers across the country aged between 16 to 19 with intensive training and performance opportunities led by acclaimed choreographers. There will also be £1 million of funding for the BFI Film Academy which will help to train the next generation of talented film makers aged 16 to 19 through high quality local and residential courses. ​ I jointly chair the Cultural Education Board with the Schools Minister and Darren Henley, author of reports into music and cultural education. Good progress has been made against the reports' recommendations.

Deputy Prime Minister

Charities

Julie Hilling: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 on charities.

Ann McKechin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 on charities.

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Act 2014 on campaigning by charities.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Section 39 of the Act provides for a review of the operation of the regulatory regime governing third parties at the 2015 General Election. The Government announced on 28 January 2015 that Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbots will conduct this review.

Department of Health

Care Homes

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether it is a requirement of (a) the CQC monitoring process and (b) another source for each care home to have a registered manager on site; what information his Department holds on the number of registered managers in England; and whether the training of registered managers is monitored and assessed by the CQC.

Norman Lamb: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and adult social care providers in England. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the 2008 Act) all providers of regulated activities, including National Health Service and independent providers, have to register with the CQC and meet a set of requirements of safety and quality.   The 2008 Act, together with the CQC (Registration) Regulations 2009 require that all providers must have in place one or more registered managers for its regulated activities. The regulations set out some exceptions to this (for example if the provider is a health service body, or a lone individual who meets certain criteria) but in practice, the vast majority of registered providers in the social care sector must have a registered manager.   Registered managers have legal responsibilities in relation to their position. The person appointed as registered manager should be in day-to-day charge of carrying on the regulated activity or activities they apply to be registered for. The regulations do not specify that the registered manager must be on the premises at all times, but in all cases, the registered manager must be able to demonstrate how they will manage the day-to-day running of the regulated activities at each of their locations.   The CQC has supplied the following information about the registered manager regulations:   As of 5 February 2015 there are 16,426 locations which provide the regulated activity of accommodation for people who require nursing or personal care. The provider is required to have a registered manager in place for each of these locations. 14,758 locations have a registered manager in place and 1,668 locations do not.   The CQC inspectors ensure that where a manager is not in place the provider complies with Regulation 14 Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009, Notice of absence, to ensure the safe management of the home while a manager is absence or in the process of being appointed. The expectation is that providers will take timely and strenuous action to appoint a manager who is suitably competent and qualified to apply for and secure registration. If providers fail to do so, in addition to enforcement action which can include the issue of a Fixed Penalty Notice or prosecution CQC will limit the rating when judging the “Well led” question as part of CQC’s new approach to inspection and ratings.   The requirements state that registered managers must have the necessary qualifications, skills and experience to manage the carrying on of the regulated activity. The CQC assesses against the requirements in Regulation 7(2) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2010 when it registers providers and managers (by asking about qualification, induction and ongoing training programmes, for example), as well as monitoring continuing compliance with this requirement through inspection. In CQC’s Key Lines of Enquiry, CQC inspectors are prompted to look at how providers are making sure that staffing levels have the right mix of skills, competencies, qualifications, experience and knowledge, to meet people’s individual needs, to determine whether or not a care home provider is delivering safe care.

Musculoskeletal Disorders

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with bodies responsible for medical training on the broadening of the GP training curriculum to ensure there is a workforce development strategy for healthcare professionals within the field of musculoskeletal disorders.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The content and standard of medical training is the responsibility of the General Medical Council (GMC), which is an independent statutory body. It has the general function of promoting high standards of education and co-ordinating all stages of education to ensure that medical students and newly qualified doctors are equipped with the knowledge, skills and attitudes essential for professional practice.   Health Education England (HEE) will work with bodies that set curricula such as the GMC and the Royal College of general practitioners to seek to ensure general practice training meets the needs of patients.   In addition, HEE has established an independent Primary Care Workforce Commission which is chaired by Professor Martin Roland of University of Cambridge. The Commission will identify models of primary care that will meet the needs of the future National Health Service including greater emphasis on community, primary and integrated services. It will focus on patient and population need; emerging models of care to respond to the population need; and maximising new skill sets and education and training.

Fractures

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which local commissioning bodies have commissioned a fracture liaison service; and what steps he is taking to encourage such commissioning.

Norman Lamb: The provision of fracture liaison services (FLS) is a matter for local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and data on numbers is not collected centrally. NHS England advises that it is aware that provision of good FLS is not uniform across the country and is working with CCGs to support them to develop appropriate local services. It also advises that the FLS model recommended by the International Osteoporosis Foundation and the National Osteoporosis society is recognised as best practice and is being promoted.

Southend University Hospital

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department have had with (i) Monitor, (ii) the Care Quality Commission and (iii) NHS England on Southend University Hospital; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State meets Monitor, the Care Quality Commission and NHS England regularly and discusses a wide range of issues. There is no record of any discussions between the Department’s Ministers and officials and these organisations about Southend University Hospital.

Southend University Hospital

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations his Department has received on Southend University Hospital in each of the last two years; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: A search of the Department’s Ministerial correspondence database has identified 44 items of correspondence received in 2013 and 44 in 2014 about Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. This is a minimum figure that represents correspondence received by the Department’s Ministerial correspondence unit only.   My noble Friend, Earl Howe (the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Quality) has agreed to meet with the hon. Member for Southend West on this matter on 5 March 2015.

Southend University Hospital

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which company is contracted to enforce car parking regulations at Southend University Hospital; how much Southend University Hospital has received arising from the contract in each year since the contract was signed; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many bonuses were paid to senior managers at Southend University Hospital in each of the last five years; what the cost to the public purse was of those bonuses; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what criteria were used by Southend University Hospital to set its car parking charges; how many car park spaces are there at Southend University Hospital; and how many disabled parking bays are there in Southend University Hospital car parks.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many away days were held by senior management at Southend University Hospital in each of the last five years; what the average cost was of each such away day; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many press officers were employed by Southend University Hospital in each of the last five years; what the average cost was of employing each of those press officers; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much Southend University Hospital received from car parking charges in each year since 2010; what use was made of such funds by that hospital; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Daniel Poulter: This information is not collected centrally.   We have written to Alan Tobias OBE, Chair of the Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust informing him of the Hon. Member’s enquiry. He will reply shortly and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

Southend University Hospital

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the level of income received from Southend University Hospital from car parking operations; what steps he (a) has taken and (b) plans to take to ensure that Southend University Hospital does not make excessive profits from car parking; what recent discussions has (i) he, (ii) Ministers in his Department and (iii) officials in his Department had with Southend University Hospital about car parking operations; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department has made no assessment of the level of income Southend University Hospital has received from car parking operations. Decisions on hospital car parking, including charging, are taken locally by National Health Service foundation trusts and NHS trusts. We published the NHS patient, visitor and staff car parking principles on 23 August 2014, which set out a nationally consistent approach for hospitals to take to car parking. The principles are available at:   https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-patient-visitor-and-staff-car-parking-principles   No discussions have taken place between the Department’s Ministers or officials and Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust about car parking operations.

Southend University Hospital

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he (a) is taking to ensure that Southend University Hospital meets the Government’s A&E waiting time target; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: National Health Service foundation trusts, such as Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, are free from central government control. They are overseen by Monitor, the health sector regulator. In June 2014, the Trust’s accident and emergency department (A&E) was one of the worst performing A&Es in England. Monitor therefore took regulatory action against the Trust, requiring it to implement a credible plan to improve A&E services and improve staffing within the A&E.   From July to September 2014 (Quarter 2 of trusts’ reporting cycle) the Trust was one of the best performers against the A&E waiting time standard in the East of England, with a performance of 96.2% against the standard that 95% of patients should be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours of arrival at A&E.   From October to December 2014 (Quarter 3 of trusts’ reporting cycle) the Trust’s performance against the A&E waiting time standard was 92.4%. This was better than the average Essex-wide acute hospital performance, at 89.3%, and the average Midlands and East performance at 90.5%.   The Trust is working with the wider system to achieve the A&E four hour waiting time standard, and Monitor will continue to hold the Trust to account and step in if further regulatory action is appropriate.   The Government has given the NHS a record £700 million of additional support to ensure urgent and emergency care services are sustainable year-round and ready for the pressures of winter. The Government is also acting to ease the pressure on A&E departments by supporting faster discharge from hospitals. We have given a ring-fenced grant totalling £37 million to councils, to help prevent delayed discharges.   For the longer term, NHS England’s urgent and emergency care review is looking at ways to improve the system, including easing pressures on A&E departments.

Hospitals: Essex

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with local authorities in Essex on increased attendances in A&E departments during winter 2014-15 and delayed discharges; and if he will make a statement.

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with (a) Monitor, (b) the Care Quality Commission and (c) NHS England on hospitals in Essex which have not met the Government's A&E waiting time target; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State meets NHS England on a weekly basis and discusses a wide range of topics, including accident and emergency (A&E) performance. Monitor, the Care Quality Commission, and the NHS Trust Development Authority also have oversight of trust A&E performance, and are involved in these meetings.   The Department has not had any discussions with local authorities in Essex on increased attendances in A&E departments and delayed discharges. It is for local authorities to decide how best to commission and deliver care services in their area.   However, the Department recently held discussions with the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services to agree how best to allocate additional funding to the worst affected local authorities in England to help address delayed discharges from hospitals to the social care system.   As a result Essex County Council has received a one-off grant of £230,000 and Southend-on-Sea Borough Council a one-off grant of £75,000 in 2014/15 to be spent for these purposes.

Southend University Hospital

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many locums, in which positions and at what grade were employed by Southend University Hospital in each year since 2011.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Information is not available in the format requested.   Information on the number of locum doctors by grade at Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (full time equivalents) as at 31 October for 2011 to 2014 is shown in the following table:2011201220132014All locum doctors141256Of which:Consultant111145Specialty Doctor2---Staff Grade0000Hospital Practitioner/ Clinical Assistant1111 Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) Provisional Monthly Workforce Statistics   Notes: 1. These statistics relate to the contracted positions within English NHS organisations and may include those where the person assigned to the position is temporarily absent, for example on maternity leave. 2. By their nature, locum roles may be maintained in the Electronic Staff Record HR system without the doctor in the role being active. 3. The HSCIC does not hold data on the wards that staff work in or their specific positions. 4. ' - ' denotes zero 5. '0' denotes more than zero, less than one 6. Provisional monthly NHS workforce data figures may be revised from month to month as issues are uncovered and resolved. The monthly workforce data does not include Primary care staff or Bank staff. 7. The HSCIC seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality. Where changes impact on figures already published, this is assessed but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed.

Southend University Hospital

Sir David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much was spent by Southend University Hospital on employing locums, in which (a) ward and (b) positions, in each year since 2011.

Dr Daniel Poulter: Information is not available in the format requested.   Information on total annual earnings for locum doctors, by grade, at Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust as at 31 October for 2011 to 2014, is shown in the following table.2011 (£)2012 (£)2013 (£)2014 (£)All locum doctors972,807925,418554,203321,879Of which:Consultant913, 626915,483554,203321,879Specialty Doctor59,1819,935-- Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), Provisional NHS Staff Earnings Estimates.   Notes: 1. '-‘ denotes ‘Not applicable’. 2. The HSCIC does not hold data on the wards that staff work in or their specific positions 3. These figures relate to earnings of staff rather than the total cost of them, as HSCIC does not hold data on the total cost of staff. 4. As expected with provisional data, some figures may be revised prior to the next publication as issues are uncovered and resolved. 5. Figures are rounded to the nearest pound. 6. These figures represent payments made using the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) system to NHS Staff who are employed and directly paid by NHS organisations. 7. Figures based on data from all English NHS organisations who are using ESR (two foundation trusts do not use ESR). 8. Figures are based on staff with contracted hours more than zero. 9. These statistics include "negative" payments - for example instances where a payment field has had money subtracted to correct an overpayment. 10. The HSCIC seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality where changes impact on figures already published. This is assessed but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses. 11. As from 21 July 2010, the HSCIC has published provisional monthly NHS workforce data. As expected with provisional statistics, some figures may be revised from month to month as issues are uncovered and resolved. The monthly workforce data is not directly comparable with the annual workforce census; it only includes those staff on the ESR (i.e. it does not include Primary care staff or Bank staff); it also includes locum doctors (not counted in the annual census). There are also new methods of presenting data (headcount methodology is different and there is now a role count). This information is available from September 2009 onwards at the following website: www.hscic.gov.uk

Cancer: Drugs

Nicola Blackwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many applications to the Cancer Drugs Fund have been successful in Oxford West and Abingdon; and what the financial value of those applications was.

George Freeman: Prior to April 2013, the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) was administered through clinical panels based in each strategic health authority (SHA) and data on the number of patients accessing the Fund and expenditure at constituency level were not collected. Information for the South Central SHA and England in 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 is shown below:Number of patients funded in 2010-111Amount spent 2010-11 £000Number of patients funded in 2011-121Amount spent 2011-12 £000Number of patients funded in 2012-131Amount spent 2012-13 £000South Central SHA2903,2001,1705,3182,28814,542England2,78038,52411,798108,32715,456175,334 Source: Information provided to the Department by SHAs 1 Some individual patients may be double-counted where a patient has received more than one drug treatment through the CDF   NHS England has had oversight of the Fund since April 2013 and publishes information on patient numbers routinely on its website at:   www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf/   Information for the NHS England South region and England in 2013-14 and 2014-15 (April- September) is shown below:Number of patients1 funded in 2013-14Amount spent 2013-14 £000Number of patients funded in 2014-15 (April- September)Amount spent 2013-14 £000 (April- September)NHS England South25,327_33,027_3England19,560230,53911,308_3 Source: NHS England 1 Some individual patients may be double-counted where a patient has received more than one drug treatment through the CDF 2 Includes individual CDF request applications approved by the CDF panel in the South region 3 not available

Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, to whom the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment reports; how that Committee is funded; and when that Committee last reviewed the Sellafield plant.

Jane Ellison: The Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE) is a Department expert committee, but it provides independent advice to all government departments and agencies throughout England and the devolved authorities. Previously it has reported on requests from the Health Departments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and the Scottish Government, as well as the Department.   The Committee is funded through the Grant in Aid awarded to Public Health England (PHE) by the Department and the secretariat is provided through PHE.   The tenth report, ‘The incidence of childhood cancer around nuclear installations in Great Britain’, published in 2005 included Sellafield in the analyses.   COMARE has been commissioned by the Department to review the incidence of childhood leukaemia and other cancers around the Sellafield and Dounreay nuclear installations, in accordance with recommendation 5 of the 11th COMARE report. A subcommittee is undertaking this work and it is anticipated it will be published as a report in 2015.

St James' Hospital Portsmouth

Mr Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will assess the potential merits of signing a covenant with Portsmouth City Council to prevent the land at the St James' Hospital site being developed.

Dr Daniel Poulter: This is a matter for NHS Property Services (NHS PS).   NHS PS has advised that there is no operational rationale for a covenant to restrict the future use and development of surplus land and buildings at the site.   We understand there are local proposals, under the St Mary’s and St James’ Estate Project in Portsmouth, aiming:   - to make St Mary’s Community Health Campus the focus of community care services in Portsmouth; - to retain mental health facilities at St James’ Hospital; - to reduce substantial areas of unused space at both sites; - to dispose of surplus land and buildings at St James’ and invest in St Mary’s and other NHS facilities in the city, and - to generate savings of circa £3 million in the ongoing cost of running the NHS-owned and occupied estate.   As part of the rationalisation plans, we are advised surplus land and buildings at St James’ Hospital will be released for redevelopment and this will take place over two phases.

Naloxone

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will issue guidance on the use and prescription of naloxone.

George Freeman: In relation to the use of naloxone in the community to reverse opiate overdose, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is preparing legislation to support the wider availability of naloxone from October 2015, reflecting the recommendations of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.   Public Health England is preparing guidance for public health commissioners and specialist drug treatment providers; this guidance is expected to be available imminently.   The issue of naloxone supply is also being considered by the independent expert group updating the 2007 drug misuse clinical guidelines. The group may want to publish early, interim guidance ahead of publication of the full updated guidelines in early 2016. The specific details of when and how naloxone is made available in individual areas will be a decision for local public health commissioners, guided by strategies developed by their Directors of Public Health and Health and Wellbeing Boards.

Blood: Donors

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the prevalence of delays for blood donors.

Jane Ellison: In the six months from 1 August 2014 to 31 January 2015 NHS Blood and Transplant held 10,854 whole blood collection sessions, an average of 418 sessions per week.   Peak and average waiting times nationally for the last six months are recorded as:Peak Queuing Time (minutes)Average Queuing Time (minutes)August 20145020September 20145019October 20144920November 20144920December 20144920January 20155322   Source: NHS Blood and Transplant

Gastrointestinal Cancer

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to increase early diagnosis of gastro-intestinal cancers.

Jane Ellison: Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer (January 2011), is backed by over £750 million over the four years up to 2014-15, including over £450 million to achieve earlier diagnosis of cancer. The £450 million was designed to support direct general practitioner (GP) access to key diagnostic tests including flexible-sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy to support the diagnosis of bowel cancer. In 2012, the Department published ‘Direct access to diagnostic tests for cancer: best practice referral pathways for general practitioners’ which set out where a direct referral for tests may benefit patients and lead to a faster diagnosis. The earlier diagnosis money is also supporting additional tests and treatment in secondary care and centrally led Be Clear on Cancer (BCOC) campaigns which aim to raise awareness of the symptoms of cancer and get symptomatic patients to present earlier.   The BCOC national Oesophago-Gastric campaign to raise awareness of the main symptoms of these cancers launched on 26 January and will run until 22 February. The campaign uses a wide range of media, including national television and radio advertising, to promote the key message “Having heartburn, most days, for three weeks or more could be a sign of cancer” and “Food sticking when you swallow could be a sign of cancer”.   The campaign is aimed at people over 50, the age group most at risk of developing oesophago-gastric cancers, and their friends and family to raise awareness of the symptoms of persistent heartburn and food sticking and to encourage people with either of these symptoms to visit their GP.   The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is in the process of updating current ‘Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer (2005)’ to ensure that these can continue to support GPs to identify patients with suspected cancer symptoms including gastrointestinal symptoms, and urgently refer them as appropriate. NICE’s anticipated publication date for the revised guidelines is May 2015.   We are currently rolling out Bowel Scope Screening (BSS, technical name flexible sigmoidoscopy) to people aged 55 years of age. BSS is an alternative and complementary bowel screening methodology to home testing kits and involves having a thin, bendy tube put a short way into the rectum and lower bowel. The doctor uses the scope to look at the inside wall of the bowel, and remove any small growths (polyps) that are there. Bowel cancers usually develop very slowly from these polyps, known medically as adenomas. By removing them at an early stage it is possible to prevent bowel cancers from developing   We exceeded our target of 30% of BSS centres operational by the end of March 2014 (22 out of 62, 35%), and Public Health England (PHE) is confident of meeting the commitment of having 60% of centres operational by 31 March 2015 (currently 32 are operational, 52%). PHE is also confident of meeting the commitment of 100% (62) centres operational by the end of December 2016.   As at the end of December 2014, 75,322 invitations had been issued and 25,828 BSS procedures had been performed. Uptake stood at approximately 44% and ranged from 38% in the lowest site to 50% in the highest. 1,154 people had been referred to colonoscopy following BSS, with 25 cancers detected and 490 people with high/intermediate risk polyps and 370 people with low risk polyps managed/removed.   On 11 January NHS England announced a new independent cancer taskforce to develop a five-year action plan for cancer services to improve survival rates and save thousands of lives. The taskforce will produce a statement of intent by March 2015, and will aim to publish the new strategy in the summer.

St Mary's Hospital NHS Trust

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reason a decision was taken to withdraw funding for the Paddington Alcohol Test programme at St Mary's Hospital NHS Trust.

Jane Ellison: We are advised that the Paddington Alcohol Test is an assessment tool for evaluating whether patients have alcohol-related problems.   We understand that the alcohol health worker at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington is commissioned by the Public Health Substance Misuse, Sexual Health and Offender Health Commissioning Team at Westminster City Council and has been provided by the organisation Turning Point.   For more information, the hon. Member may wish to contact the Public Health team at Westminster City Council.

Gastrointestinal Cancer

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to increase the uptake of screening programmes for gastro-intestinal cancers amongst ethnic minorities in (a) Ealing, Southall, (b) England and (c) the UK.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England (PHE) is working with NHS England via the Public Health Section 7A agreement to develop a system of performance improvement through the use of performance floors around uptake of cancer screening, including bowel cancer screening, and strengthened governance for screening. The PHE Marketing Strategy 2014 to 2017, published in July 2014, states that PHE will work with the national screening programme to trial mechanisms for improving uptake, particularly amongst disadvantaged groups.   Between January and April 2014, Cancer Research UK (with support from PHE, NHS England - London region, the Department of Health and the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme) tested a number of different approaches to raising awareness of the programme and reducing barriers to participation in London. The approaches tested included various different combinations of an endorsement of the programme from Cancer Research UK, a ‘kit enhancement’ designed to make it easier for people to complete the test, and outdoor advertising to raise awareness of the programme. The evaluation of the programme showed that although the endorsement letter did not significantly impact uptake of screening on its own, the endorsement letter and kit enhancement together increased uptake by between 0.9% to 2.7%. Similar results were seen for the outdoor advertising campaign and the endorsement letter combined. The outdoor advertising campaign, endorsement letter and kit enhancement, when all were taken together, increased uptake by between 2.1% to 6% among 60 to 69 year olds, and 2.6% to 4.6% among 70 to 74 year olds. These results are promising, and Cancer Research UK plan some further testing in partnership with the Welsh Bowel Cancer Screening Programme in early 2015.   The ASCEND study, which is funded by the National Institute for Health Research aims to increase uptake of the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme amongst socially deprived and culturally diverse communities. This study is due to conclude in February 2016 having commenced in March 2011, and we look forward to the findings and learning how to engage better with these communities.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to encourage the roll-out of alcohol care teams among acute providers to reduce the readmission of patients presenting with alcohol-related harm.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department has taken to reduce A&E admissions arising from alcohol-related harm.

Jane Ellison: We have set out the Government’s approach to reducing alcohol-related harm in the Government’s Alcohol Strategy.   In November 2014, Public Health England (PHE) published ‘Alcohol care in England’s hospitals: An opportunity not to be wasted’. The report summarises the evidence of specialist alcohol services’ contribution to patients in secondary care, including the evidence and cost effectiveness of what alcohol care teams can do, such as contributing to a potential reduction in alcohol–related accident and emergency (A&E) attendances. It also explores the interventions that these services might provide and describes current understanding about service provision.   PHE regional centres are also running conferences to highlight the value of alcohol care teams (including Alcohol Liaison Nurses) in hospitals for local stakeholders and are supporting local partners who wish to improve existing services or establish new ones.   PHE has also published guidance to improve support for young people in A&E with alcohol related problems. It is aimed at A&E clinicians, hospital managers, substance misuse and young people’s commissioners and includes a set of key questions or prompts for professionals to help them develop care pathways within A&E and into other services for young people.   We are also taking a number of other actions, for example, by encouraging better sharing of anonymised data on these attendances between National Health Service bodies and the police. This can provide intelligence for licensing decisions, enabling targeting of premises who are contributing to irresponsible sales and drunkenness.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make it his policy to include inflammatory bowel disease patients in the list of people who are exempt from prescription charges.

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on what basis the medical conditions exempt from prescription charges are decided; and if he will make it his policy to update the list of medical exemptions.

George Freeman: The list of medical conditions that give exemption from prescription charges was introduced in 1968 after agreement with the medical profession. The list has since been reviewed on a number of occasions, but not altered except for the introduction of cancer in 2009.   At the request of the previous Government, Professor Sir Ian Gilmore undertook a review into extending entitlement to free prescriptions to all those in England with a long-term condition. In responding to the review in 2010, the Government made clear that, in light of the challenging financial context, no changes would be made to the current list of exemptions.   Prescription charges in England raise valuable income, in the region of £450 million each year, which helps the National Health Service to maintain vital services for patients.   The extensive system of exemption arrangements in place, including for those on low incomes who may struggle to pay for their prescriptions, means that around 90% of all prescription items are already dispensed free of charge. Prescription Prepayment Certificates (PPCs) are also available for those who need multiple prescriptions, such as those with long-term conditions, and have to pay NHS prescription charges. This is the fifth year the cost of an annual certificate, and the third year the cost of a three month certificate, have been frozen. Both certificates will also remain at £104.00 and £29.10 respectively, next year. There is no limit to the number of items that can be obtained through a PPC. The annual certificate benefits anyone needing more than 12 items a year, and the three month certificate anyone needing more than three items in that three month period.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people paid for prescriptions in (a) 2011, (b) 2012, (c) 2013 and (d) 2014.

George Freeman: We do not hold data on the number of people who paid prescription charges, but we estimate that 40% of people in England are required to pay for their prescriptions.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he has taken to promote the prescription prepayment certificate in the last 12 months; and how much was spent promoting the certificate.

George Freeman: Prescription prepayment certificates are promoted through posters and leaflets which are made available to general practitioner practices and community pharmacies through websites such as NHS Choices. The cost of promoting prescription prepayment certificates cannot be identified separately as it is combined with the costs for all the Help with Health Costs (HWHC) schemes. The annual cost for providing HWHC forms, leaflets, posters and the associated display contract is £485,025 for 2014-15.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether funds raised by prescription charges are ring-fenced for spending in the NHS.

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how funds raised by prescription charges were spent on NHS services in (a) 2012, (b) 2013 and (c) 2014.

George Freeman: Prescription charge revenue is retained by the National Health Service in England and used to fund NHS services. It is not possible to track through the financial systems and identify how prescription charge revenue is used to fund specific NHS services.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the Prescription Charges Coalition report on prescription charges and employment.

George Freeman: We have made no formal assessment. The main recommendation of the Prescription Charges Coalition’s report is to extend prescription charge exemptions to all those with a long-term condition. Extending exemption to this group was the focus of the review undertaken by Professor Sir Ian Gilmore at the request of the previous Government. Responding to the review in 2010, the Government made clear that, in light of the challenging financial context, no changes would be made to the current list of exemptions and this continues to be the case.   Prescription charges in England raise valuable income, in the region of £450 million each year, which helps the National Health Service to maintain vital services for patients.   There is an extensive system of exemption arrangements already in place, including for those on low incomes who may struggle to pay for their prescriptions. This means that around 90% of all prescription items are already dispensed free of charge. Prescription Prepayment Certificates are also available for those who need multiple prescriptions, such as those with long term conditions, and have to pay NHS prescription charges. To support this group, the cost of the annual certificate has been frozen for the last five years and the three month certificate for the last three years.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the penalties are for incorrect prescription charge exemption claims; what appeal mechanisms are in place to contest those penalties; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: The National Health Service (Penalty Charge) Regulations 1999 set out that where a person fails to pay a NHS charge which they are liable to pay, they may be issued with a penalty notice. The penalty charge is a civil fine – it is five times the amount a person should have paid, up to £100. This is on top of the original prescription charge, currently £8.05 per item. Where a person fails to pay the penalty charge within a period of 28 days, the penalty charge will be increased by 50%.   The NHS Act 2006 (section 194) allows for a fine of up to £2,500 (level 4 on the standard scale, Criminal Justice Act 1982) for those found guilty of knowingly making a false claim to exemption from prescription charges.   A person who wishes to challenge the request for payment of a penalty charge by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), may explain their circumstances to the NHSBSA and if they can demonstrate to the NHSBSA’s satisfaction that they did not act wrongfully, or with any lack of care, they will not be subject to a penalty charge. The NHSBSA also has discretion to waive the penalty charge where the person concerned provides compelling reasons for making an incorrect claim for exception. A person who is not satisfied with the handling of their case may use the NHS complaints process to make a complaint against the NHSBSA. Ultimately, this can be escalated to the Health Service Ombudsman.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what processes are in place to issue renewal reminders to people with medical exemption certificates when they are due to expire; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: The NHS Business Services Authority sends a reminder letter to holders of medical exemption certificates one month before the expiry date on the certificate.

Nursing and Midwifery Council

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of Nursing and Midwifery Council fees on the quality of teaching and facilities for nurses and midwives.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is an independent body. Accordingly the NMC Council is responsible for determining the level of the annual fee it charges for registration and for considering the impact of any proposed fee increase.   The annual registration fee charged by the NMC must cover the full costs of its regulatory activity. Such activity includes setting standards for nursing and midwifery education, to ensure they have the right skills and qualities both when they start work and throughout their careers.

General Practitioners: Greater Manchester

Mr David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many GPs have retired from practice in (a) Bolton and (b) Greater Manchester in each of the last five years.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Parkinson's Disease

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support patients with Parkinson's disease.

Norman Lamb: The Government’s mandate to NHS England sets out the requirements to improve outcomes in a range of areas, including supporting people with long-term conditions (LTCs) such as Parkinson’s disease. NHS England has developed the House of Care model to support the delivery of person-centred, coordinated care, enabling individuals to make informed decisions and empowering them to self-care for their LTCs in partnership with health and care professionals.   The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance Parkinson’s disease: Diagnosis and management in primary and secondary care, published in 2006, sets out best practice for the management and treatment for Parkinson’s disease. The guidance makes recommendations on the support that patients should receive which includes a comprehensive care plan agreed between the individual, their family and/or carers and specialist and secondary healthcare providers. Patients should also have access to a continuing point of contact for support, including home visits, when appropriate. The guidance makes it clear that supportive treatments such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy may also be appropriate.   The NICE guidance is currently being updated and revised guidance is expected for publication in October 2016.

Muscular Dystrophy: Drugs

Sir Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with the National Institue for Health and Care Excellence on NHS commissioning of the drug Translarna, in response to the conditional approval given by the European Commission to that drug; when he plans for his review of the pathways for the development, assessment, and adoption of innovative medicines and medical technology to be completed; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: Following discussions between the Department, NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), it was decided that Translarna (ataluren) for treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy resulting from a nonsense mutation in the dystrophin gene should be considered for formal referral to NICE’s highly specialised technologies (HST) programme which evaluates treatments for very rare conditions. NICE has recently consulted stakeholders on the draft remit and scope of its proposed HST evaluation of Translarna.   Ministers will take a decision on the formal referral of this topic following the outcome of NICE’s scoping work.   The review of the pathway for the development, assessment, and adoption of innovative medicines and medical technologies will consider how to speed up access for National Health Service patients to cost-effective new diagnostics, medicines and devices. We anticipate an initial report before the end of the year.

Social Services: Veterans

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the reasons are for the difference in contributions to costs for social care between injured veterans receiving payments under the War Pensions Scheme and such veterans receiving payments under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Norman Lamb: This Government has made a clear commitment, through the Armed Forces Covenant, which we enshrined in legislation in 2011, to support members of the Armed Forces Community, which includes both serving personnel and veterans.   Social care has never been free and people have always been asked to make a contribution based on what they can afford. However, we know that the current system for paying for care no longer reflects the needs of today’s society which is why we are in the process of introducing the biggest reforms in over 65 years.   The War Pensions Scheme, which predates the introduction of the welfare state, provides a range of allowances in addition to the basic war disablement pension. Some of these allowances are designed to specifically pay for the ongoing care costs associated with an individual’s disability and these are paid at a preferential rate, meaning that a war pensioner does not have to use their basic war disablement pension to meet these costs or seek other benefits to cover them.   The Armed Forces Compensation Scheme that was introduced in 2005 operates differently and is therefore currently treated differently in assessing what a person can afford to contribute to the cost of their care. However, officials in the Department of Health have been working closely with the Royal British Legion to assess how the two schemes might be aligned under the social care charging rules in future.   Alongside this we are in the process of introducing much wider reforms to how we pay for social care that will make the system fairer for everyone, including veterans. At the moment, someone who has the highest care needs can risk losing all they have to meet the cost of their care. These reforms will mean that, for the first time ever, everyone will be protected from the risk of catastrophic care costs. The proposals are currently out for consultation and can be found at:   www.careact2016.dh.gov.uk

Health Services: Foreign Nationals

Mr Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the money that will be raised as a result of the steps his Department is taking to ensure greater recovery of the costs of NHS care provided to visitors and migrants from (a) EEA countries and (b) non-EEA countries  in (i) 2014-15 and (ii) each of the next three financial years.

Jane Ellison: Following the public consultation undertaken in August 2014[1] and the Government’s response of December 2014[2], the Department of Health has been working to design and implement key improvements through the Visitor and Migrant NHS Cost Recovery Programme. The programme has the stated aim to recover up to £500 million per year from chargeable overseas visitors and migrants (or their home countries) by the middle of the next Parliament (2017/18). This will be reinvested into the National Health Service to support the sustainability of NHS frontline services.   The £500 million will be made up of £200 million a year from health surcharge income, £200 million a year from better identification of patients from the European Economic Area[3] (EEA) and recharging to their home countries, and £100 million a year from better identification and recovery directly from patients outside of the EEA. These figures represent a significant improvement on the baseline of £73 million recovered in 2012/13.   The 2014/15 financial year-end data will not be available until summer 2015.   Early indications from one initiative – the European Health Insurance Card[4] (EHIC) financial incentive introduced on 1 October 2014 – already show an increase in both the value of EHIC patient activity being recorded and the number of NHS trusts who are collecting EHIC details from patients. [1] www.gov.uk/government/consultations/migrants-and-overseas-visitors-use-of-the-nhs[2] www.gov.uk/government/consultations/migrants-and-overseas-visitors-use-of-the-nhs[3] The EEA provides for the free movement of persons. The EEA includes EU countries and also Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Switzerland is also included as it is part of the single market: this means Swiss nationals have the same rights to live and work in the UK as other EEA nationals.[4] If visitors from the EEA are insured under their respective state’s healthcare system, they are eligible for a EHIC. This gives access to medically necessary state provided healthcare during a temporary stay under the same conditions as people insured in that country. This card allows us to recover costs from respective states. If a visitor does not have an EHIC, we can charge directly at 100% of tariff, providing they are not exempt under the regulations.